^ivine Inspiration 



of the 



AUTHOR W. HNI 




Class ____ 



Book.. 



r 



Copyright^?- 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSES 



THE 

DIVINE INSPIRATION 
OF THE BIBLE 



ARTHUR W. PINK 



BIBLE TRUTH DEPOT 

PUBLISHERS AND BOOKSELLERS 
SWENGEL, PA. 



'BSffro 



Pc 



COPYRIGHT 1917, 

BIBLE TRUTH DEPOT, 

GWCMGEL, Pfc. 




OCT 31 1917 



©CI.A477338 
"K" ( 






I affectionately inscribe this book 

to 

my dear father and mother, 

in grateful appreciation of the fact that 

from a child I was taught to revere 

the Holy Scriptures. 






Sv 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PACE 
CHAPTER - 

Introduction 

I. There is a Presumption in Favor of the Bible 11 

II The Perennial Freshness of the Bible bears 

Witness to its Divine Inspirer 19 

III The Unmistakable Honesty of the Writers of 

the Bible Attests its Heavenly Origin ** 

IV The Character of its Teachings evidences the 

Divine Authorship of the Bible 6 < 

V The Fulfilled Prophecies of the Bible bespeak 

the Omniscience of its Author *> 

VI The Typical Significance of the Scriptures 

declare their Divine Authorship W 

VII. The Wonderful Unity of the Bible attests its 
Divine Authorship 

VIII. The Marvelous Influence of the Bible declares 

its Superhuman Character J l 

IX The Miraculous Power of the Bible shows 

forth that its Inspirer is the Almighty . . J7 

X. The Completeness of the Bible demonstrates 

its Divine Perfection 1U{> 

XI The Indestructibility of the Bible is a proof 

that its Author is Divine Xli 

XII. Inward Confirmation of the Veracity of the 

Scriptures 

127 
XEII. Verbal Inspiration * 

XIV. Application of the Argument 137 



INTRODUCTION 

Christianity is the religion of a Book. Christianity is 
based upon the impregnable rock of Holy Scripture. The 
starting point of all doctrinal discussion must be the Bible. 
Upon the foundation of the Divine inspiration of the Bible 
stands or falls the entire edifice of Christian truth. — "If 
the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" 
(Ps. 11:3). Surrender the dogma of verbal inspiration and 
you are left like a rudderless ship on a stormy sea — at the 
mercy of every wind that blows. Deny that the Bible is, 
without any qualification, the very Word of God, and you 
are left without any ultimate standard of measurement and 
without any supreme authority. It is useless to discuss any 
doctrine taught by the Bible until you are prepared to 
acknowledge, unreservedly, that the Bible is the final court 
of appeal. Grant that the Bible is a Divine revelation and 
communication of God's own mind and will to men, and you 
have a fixed starting point from which advance can be 
made into the domain of truth. Grant that the Bible is 
(in its original manuscripts) inerrant and infallible, and 
you reach the place where study of its contents is both 
practicable and profitable. 

It is impossible to over-estimate the importance of the 
doctrine of the Divine inspiration of Scripture. This is the 
strategic center of Christian theology, and must be de- 
fended at all costs. It is the point at which our satanic 
enemy is constantly hurling his hellish battalions. Here it 
was he made his first attack. In Eden he asked, "Yea, hath 
God said?" and to-day he is pursuing the same tactics. 
Throughout the ages the Bible has been the central object 
of his assaults. Every available weapon in the deviPs ar- 
senal has been employed in his determined and ceaseless 
efforts to destroy the temple of God's truth. In the first 
days of the Christian era the attack of the enemy was made 
openly — the bonfire being the chief instrument of destruc- 



8 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

tion — but, in these "last days" the assault is made in a 
more subtle manner and comes from a more unexpected 
quarter. The Divine origin of the Scriptures is now dis- 
puted in the name of "Scholarship" and "Science," and 
that, too, by those who profess to be friends and champions 
of the Bible. Much of the learning and theological activity 
of the hour, are concentrated in the attempt to discredit and 
destroy the authenticity and authority of God's Word, the 
result being that thousands of nominal Christians are 
plunged into a sea of doubt. Many of those who are paid 
to stand in our pulpits and defend the Truth of God are 
now the very ones who are engaged in sowing the seeds 
of unbelief and destroying the faith of those to whom they 
minister. But these modern methods will prove no more 
successful in their efforts to destroy the Bible than did 
those employed in the opening centuries of the Christian 
era. As well might the birds attempt to demolish the 
granite rock of Gibraltar by pecking at it with their beaks 
— "For ever, Lord, Thy Word is settled in heaven" 
(Ps. 119:89). 

Now the Bible does not fear investigation. Instead of 
fearing it, the Bible courts and challenges consideration 
and examination. The more widely it is known, the more 
closely it is read, the more carefully it is studied, the more 
unreservedly will it be received as the Word of God. Chris- 
tians are not a company of enthusiastic fanatics. They 
are not lovers of myths. They are not anxious to believe 
a delusion. They do not desire their lives to be moulded 
by an empty superstition. They do not wish to mistake 
hallucination for inspiration. If they are wrong, they 
wish to be set right. If they are deceived, they want to be 
disillusioned. If they are mistaken, they desire to be cor- 
rected. 

The first question which the thoughtful reader of the 
Bible has to answer is, What importance and value am 
I to attach to the contents of the Scriptures? Were 
the writers of the Bible so many fanatics moved by 
oracular frenzy? Were they merely poetically inspired and 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 9 

intellectually elevated? or, were they, as they claimed to 
be, and as the Scriptures affirm they were, moved by the 
Holy Spirit to act as the voice of God to a sinful world? 
Were the writers of the Bible inspired by God in a man- 
ner no other men were in any other age of the world? 
Were they invested and endowed with the power to disclose 
mysteries and point men upward and onward to that which 
otherwise would have been an impenetrable future? One 
can readily appreciate the fact that the answer to these 
questions is of supreme importance. If the Bible is not 
inspired in the strictest sense of the word then it is worth- 
less, for it claims to be God's Word, and if its claims are 
spurious then its statements are unreliable and its contents 
are untrustworthy. If, on the other hand, it can be shown 
to the satisfaction of every impartial inquirer that the Bi- 
ble is the Word of God, inerrant and infallible, then we 
have a starting point from which we can advance to the 
conquest of all truth. 

A book that claims to be a Divine revelation — a claim 
which, as we shall see, is substantiated by the most con- 
vincing credentials — cannot be rejected or even neglected 
without grave peril to the soul. True wisdom cannot re- 
fuse to examine it with care and impartiality. If the claims 
of the Bible be well founded then the prayerful and dili- 
gent study of the Scriptures becomes of paramount im- 
portance: they have a claim upon our notice and time 
which nothing else has, and beside them everything in this 
world loses its luster and sinks into utter insignificance. If 
the Bible be the Word of God then it infinitely transcends 
in value all the writings of men, and in exact ratio to its 
immeasurable superiority to human productions such is our 
responsibility and duty to give it the most reverent and 
serious consideration. As a Divine revelation the Bible 
ought to be studied, yet, this is the only subject on which 
human curiosity does not desire information. Into every 
other sphere man pushes his investigations, but the Book 
of books is neglected, and this, not only by the ignorant, 
and illiterate, but by the wise of this world as well. The 



10 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

cultured dilettante will boast of his acquaintance with the 
sages of Greece and Rome, yet, will know little or nothing 
of Moses and the prophets, Christ and His Apostles. But 
the general neglect of the Bible verifies the Scriptures and 
affords additional proof of their authenticity. The contempt 
with which the Bible is treated demonstrates that human 
nature is exactly what God's Word represents it to be — 
fallen and depraved — and is unmistakable evidence that the 
carnal mind is enmity against God. 

If the Bible is the Word of God; if it stands on an in- 
finitely exalted plane, all alone; if it immeasurably tran- 
scends all the greatest productions of human genius; then, 
we should naturally expect to find that it has unique cre- 
dentials, that there are internal marks which prove it to 
be the handiwork of God, that there is conclusive evidence 
to show that its Author is superhuman, Divine. That these 
expectations are realized we shall now endeavor to show; 
that there is no reason whatever for any one to doubt the 
Divine inspiration of the Scriptures is the purpose of this 
book to demonstrate. As we examine the natural world we 
find innumerable proofs of the existence of a Personal 
Creator, and the same God who has manifested Himself 
thro' His works has also revealed His wisdom and will thro' 
His Word. The God of creation and the God of written 
revelation are One, and there are irrefutable arguments 
to show that the Almighty who made the heavens and the 
earth is also the Author of the Bible. 

We shall now submit to the critical attention of the 
reader a few of the lines of demonstration which argue 
for the Divine inspiration of the Bible. 



CHAPTER ONE 

THERE IS A PRESUMPTION IN FAVOR 
OF THE BIBLE 



THERE IS A PRESUMPTION IN FAVOR 
OF THE BIBLE 

5^-3 HIS argument may be simply and tersely 
($) stated thus — Man needed a Divine revelation 
^-^ which was committed to writing, a revelation 
couched in human language. God had previously 
given man a revelation of Himself in His created 
works — which men please to term "nature" — but 
this revelation was inadequate. Though the creation 
bears unmistakable testimony to the existence of its 
Creator, and though sufficient is revealed of God thro 7 
it to render all men "without excuse/" yet creation 
does not present a complete unveiling of God's char- 
acter. Creation reveals God's wisdom and power, 
but it gives us a very imperfect presentation of His 
mercy and love. Creation is now under the curse; 
it is imperfect, because it has been marred by sin; 
therefore, an imperfect creation cannot be a perfect 
medium for revealing God; and hence, also, the 
testimony of creation is contradictory. 

In the spring of the year, when nature puts on 
her loveliest robes and we see the beautiful foliage 
of the countryside and listen to the happy songs of 
the birds, we have no difficulty in inferring that a 
gracious God is ruling over our world. But what 
of the winter-time, when the countryside is desolate 
and the trees are leafless and forlorn, when a pall of 
death seems to be resting on everything? When we 
stood by the seashore and watched the setting sun 
crimsoning the placid waters on a quiet eve, we had 
no hesitation in ascribing the picture to the hand of 



14 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

the Divine Artist. But when we stand upon the 
same seashore on a stormy night, hear the roar- 
ing of the breakers and the howling wind, see the 
boats battling with the angry waves and listen to the 
heart-rending cries of the seamen as they go down 
into a watery grave, then, we are tempted to wonder 
if, after all, a merciful God is at the helm. As one 
walks thro' the Grand Canyon or stands before the 
Niagara Falls, the hand and power of God seem 
very evident ; but, as one witnesses the desolations of 
the San Francisco earthquake or the death-dealing 
effects of the volcanic eruptions of Mount Vesuvius, 
he is again perplexed and puzzled. In a word 
then, the testimony of nature is conflicting, and, as 
w T e have said, this is due to the fact that sin has come 
in and marred God's handiwork. Creation displays 
God's natural attributes but it tells us little or noth- 
ing of His moral perfections. Nature knows no 
forgiveness and shows no mercy, and if we had no 
other source of information we should never discover 
the fact that God pardons sinners. Man then needs 
a written revelation from God. 

Our limitations and our ignorance reveal our 
need. Man is in darkness concerning God. Blot 
the Bible out of existence and what should we know 
about His character, His moral attributes, His atti- 
tude toward us, or His demands upon us? As w y e 
have seen, nature is but an imperfect medium for 
revealing God. The ancients had the same nature 
before them as we have, but what did they discover 
of His character? Unto what knowledge of the one 
true God did they attain? The seventeenth chapter 
of the Acts answers that question. When the Apos- 
tle Paul was in the famous city of Athens, famous 
for its learning and philosophical culture, he discov- 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 15 

ered an altar, on which were inscribed the words, 
"To the unknown God/' The same condition pre- 
vails to-day. Visit those lands which have not been 
illumined by the light of the Holy Scriptures and 
it will be found that their peoples know no more 
about the character of the living God than did the 
ancient Egyptians and Babylonians. 

Man is in darkness concerning himself. From 
whence am I? What am I? Am I anything more 
than a reasoning animal? Have I an immortal soul, 
or, am I nothing more than a sentient being? What 
is the purpose of my existence? Why am I here in 
this world at all? What is the end and aim of life? 
How shall I employ my time and talents? Shall I 
live only for to-day, eat, drink, and be merry? 
What after death? Do I perish like the beasts of 
the field, or is the grave the portal into another 
world? If so, w r hither am I bound? Do these ques- 
tions appear senseless and irrelevant? Annihilate 
the Scriptures, eliminate all the light they have 
shed upon these problems, and whither shall we 
turn for a solution? If the Bible had never been 
written how 7 many of these questions could have 
been satisfactorily answered? A very striking testi- 
mony to man's need of a Divine revelation was 
given by the celebrated but skeptical historian Gib- 
bon. He remarked — "Since, therefore, the most 
sublime efforts of philosophy can extend no farther 
than feebly to point out the desire, the hope, or, at 
most, the probability, of a future state, there is 
nothing except a Divine revelation that can ascer- 
tain the existence and describe the condition of the 
invisible country which is destined to receive the 
souls of men after their separation from the body." 



16 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

Our experiences reveal our need. There are prob- 
lems to be faced which our wisdom is incapable of 
solving; there are obstacles in our path which we 
have no means of surmounting; there are enemies 
to be met which we are unable to vanquish. We 
are in dire need of counsel, strength, and courage. 
There are trials and tribulations which come to us, 
testing the hearts of the bravest and stoutest, and 
we need comfort and cheer. There are sorrows and 
bereavements which crush our spirits and we need 
the hope of immortality and resurrection. 

Our corporate life reveals our need. What is to 
govern and regulate our dealings one with the other? 
Shall each do that which is right in his own eyes? 
That would destroy all law and order. Shall we draw 
up some moral code, some ethical standard? But 
who shall fix it? Opinions vary. We need some final 
court of appeal: if we had no Bible, where should 
we find it? 

Man then needs a Divine revelation; God is able 
to supply that need; therefore, is it not reasonable 
to suppose He will do so? Surely God will not mock 
our ignorance and leave us to grope in the dark! If 
it is harder to believe that the universe had no cre- 
ator, than it is to believe that "in the beginning God 
created the heavens and the earth;' 7 if it is a greater 
tax upon our faith to suppose that Christianity with 
all its glorious triumphs is without a Divine Found- 
er, than it is to believe that it rests upon the Person 
of the Lord Jesus Christ ; then, does it not also make 
a greater demand upon human credulity to imagine 
that God would leave mankind without an intelligi- 
ble communication from Himself, than it does to 
believe that the Bible is a revelation from the Creator 
to His fallen and erring creatures? 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 17 

If there is a personal God (and none but a "fool" 
will deny His existence) , and if we are the works of 
His hands He surely would not leave us in doubt 
concerning the great problems which have to do 
with our temporal, spiritual, and eternal welfare. If 
an earthly parent advises his sons and daughters in 
their problems and perplexities, warns them of the 
perils and pitfalls of life which menace their well- 
being ; counsels them with regard to their daily wel- 
fare and makes known to them his plans and 
purposes concerning their future, surely it is in- 
credible to suppose that our Heavenly Father would 
do less for His children ! 

We are often uncertain as to which is the right 
course to pursue; we are frequently in doubt as to 
the real path of duty ; we are constantly surrounded 
by the hosts of wickedness which seek to accomplish 
our downfall; and, we are daily confronted with 
experiences which make us sad and sorrowful. The 
wisest among us need guidance which our own wis- 
dom fails to supply; the best of humanity need 
grace which the human heart is powerless to bestow ; 
the most refined among the sons of men need de- 
liverance from temptations which they cannot over- 
come. Will God mock us then in our need? Will 
God leave us alone in the hour of our weakness? 
Will God refuse to provide for us a Refuge from 
our enemies? Man needs a Counsellor, a Comforter, 
a Deliverer. The very fact that God has a Father's 
regard for His children necessitates that He should 
give them a written revelation which communicates 
His mind and will concerning them and which 
points them to the One who is willing and able to 
supply all their need. 



18 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

To sum up this argument. Man needs a Divine 
revelation; God is able to supply one; is it not, there- 
fore, reasonable to suppose He will do so? There is 
then, a presumption in favor of the Bible. Is it not 
more reasonable to believe that He whose name and 
nature is Love shall provide us with a lamp unto 
our feet and a light unto our path, than to leave us 
to grope our way amid the darkness of a fallen and 
ruined world? 



CHAPTER TWO 

THE PERENNIAL FRESHNESS OF THE 

BIBLE BEARS WITNESS TO ITS 

DIVINE INSPIRER 

I 



THE PERENNIAL FRESHNESS OF THE 

BIBLE BEARS WITNESS TO ITS 

DIVINE INSPIRER 

JVJHE full force of the present argument will 
\y^\ appeal only to those who are intimately 
^s^ acquainted with the Bible, and the more 
familiar the reader is with the Sacred Canon the 
more heartily will he endorse the following state- 
ments. Just as a knowledge of Latin is necessary 
in order to understand the technique of a treatise 
on pathology or physiology, or just as a certain 
amount of culture and academic learning is an in- 
dispensable adjunct to intelligently follow the 
arguments and apprehend the illustrations in a 
dissertation on philosophy or psychology, so a first- 
hand acquaintance with the Bible is necessary to 
appreciate the fact that its contents never become 
commonplace. 

One of the first striking facts which arrests the 
attention of the student of God's Word is that, like 
the widow's oil and meal which nourished Elijah, 
the contents of the Bible are never exhausted. Un- 
like all other books, the Bible never acquires a 
sameness, and never diminishes in its power of re- 
sponse to the needy soul which comes to it. Just as 
a fresh supply of manna was given each day to the 
Israelites in the wilderness, so the Spirit of God 
ever breaks anew the Bread of Life to them who 
hunger after righteousness ; or, just as the loaves and 
fishes in the hands of our Lord were more than 



22 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

enough to feed the famished multitude — a surplus 
still remaining — so the honey and milk of the Word 
are more than sufficient to satisfy the hunger of 
every human soul — the supply still remaining un- 
diminished for new generations. 

Although one' may know, word for word, the 
entire contents of some chapter of Scripture, and 
although he may have taken the time to ponder 
thoughtfully every sentence therein, yet, on every 
subsequent occasion, provided one comes to it again 
in the spirit of humble inquiry, each fresh reading 
will reveal new gems never seen there before and 
new delights w T ill be experienced never met with 
previously. The most familiar passages will yield 
as much refreshment at the thousandth perusal as 
they did at the first. The Bible has been likened 
to a fountain of living water: the fountain is ever 
the same, but the water is always fresh. 

Herein the Bible differs from all other books, sa- 
cred or secular. What man has to say can be gath- 
ered from his writings at the first reading : failure to 
do so indicates that the writer has not succeeded in 
expressing himself clearly, or else the reader has 
failed to apprehend his meaning. Man is only able 
to deal with surface things, hence he cares only 
about surface appearances; consequently, whatever 
man has to say lies upon the surface of his writings, 
and the capable reader can exhaust them by a single 
perusal. Not so with the Bible. Although the Bible 
has been studied more microscopically than any 
other book (even its very letters have been counted 
and registered) by many of the keenest intellects 
for the past two thousand years, although whole 
libraries of works have been written as commenta- 
ries upon its teachings, and although literally mil- 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 23 

lions of sermons have been preached and printed in 
the attempt to expound every part of Holy Writ, 
yet its contents have not been exhausted, and in this 
twentieth century new discoveries are being made in 
it every day ! 

The Bible is an inexhaustible mine of wealth : it 
is the El Dorado of heavenly treasure. It has veins 
of ore which never "give out" and pockets of gold 
which no pick can empty; yet, like earthly treas- 
ures, the gems of God must be diligently sought if 
they are to be found. Potatoes lie near the surface 
of the ground, but diamonds require much laborious 
digging, so also the precious things of the Word are 
only revealed to the prayerful, patient and diligent 
student. 

The Bible is like a spring of water which never 
runs dry. No matter how many may drink from its 
life-giving stream, and no matter how often they 
may quench their thirst at its refreshing waters, its 
flow continues and never fails to satisfy the needs 
of all who come and take of its perennial springs. 
The Bible has a whole continent of Truth yet to be 
explored. A learned scholar who died during the 
present year of grace had read through the Bible no 
fewer than five hundred times! What other book, 
ancient or modern, Oriental or Occidental, would 
repay even a fiftieth reading? 

How can we account for this marvelous character- 
istic of the Bible? What explanation can we offer 
for this startling phenomenon? It is only stating a 
commonplace axiom when we affirm that what is 
finite is fathomable. What the mind of man has 
produced the mind of man can exhaust. If human 
mortals had written the Bible its contents w r ould 
have been "mastered" ages ago. In view of the fact 



24 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

that the contents of the Scriptures cannot be ex- 
hausted, that they never acquire sameness or stale- 
ness to the devout student, and that they always 
speak with fresh force to the quickened soul that 
comes to them, is it not apparent that none other 
than the infinite mind of God could have created 
such a wonderful Book as the Bible? 



CHAPTER THREE 

THE UNMISTAKABLE HONESTY OF THE 

WRITERS OF THE BIBLE ATTESTS 

ITS HEAVENLY ORIGIN 



THE UNMISTAKABLE HONESTY OF THE 

WRITERS OF THE BIBLE ATTESTS 

ITS HEAVENLY ORIGIN 

S^-^IIE title of this chapter suggests a wide field 
f$) of study the limits of which we can now only 
r %-s^ skirt here and there. To begin with the 
writers of the Old Testament. 

/Had the historical parts of the Old Testament 
been a forgery, or the production of uninspired men, 
their contents would have been very different to 
what they are. Each of its Books was written by a 
descendant of Abraham, yet nowhere do we find the 
bravery of the Israelites extolled and never once are 
their victories regarded as the outcome of their cour- 
age or military genius; on the contrary, success is 
attributed to the presence of Jehovah the God of 
Israel. To this it might be replied, Heathen writers 
have often ascribed the victories of their peoples to 
the intervention of their gods/ This is true, yet 
there is no parallel at all between the two cases. 
Comparison is impossible. Heathen writers invaria- 
bly represent their gods as being blindly partial to 
their friends and whenever their favorites failed to 
come out victorious their defeat is attributed to the 
opposition of other gods or to a blind and unyield- 
ing fate. In contradistinction to this, the defeats of 
Israel, as much as their victories, are regarded as 
coming from Jehovah. Their successes were not due 
to mere partiality in God, but are uniformly viewed 
as connected with a careful observance of His com- 
mands; and, in like manner, their defeats are por- 



28 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

trayed as the outcome of their disobedience and way- 
wardness. If they transgressed His laws they were de- 
feated and put to shame, even though their God was 
the Almighty. But we have digressed somewhat. 
That to which we desire to direct attention is the 
fact that men who were their own countrymen have 
chronicled the history of the Israelites, and therein 
have faithfully recorded their defeats as well as their 
victories, and have attributed their defeats not to 
an inexorable fate, nor to bad generalship and mili- 
tary failures, but to the sins of the people and their 
wickedness against God. Such a God is not the crea- 
tion of the human mind, and such historians were 
not actuated by the common principles of human 
nature. 

Not only have the Jewish historians recounted the 
military defeats of their people, but they have also 
faithfully recorded their many moral backslidings 
and spiritual declensions. One of the outstanding 
truths of the Old Testament is that of the Unity of 
God, that God is One, that beside Him there is none 
else, that all other gods are false gods and that to 
pay them homage is to be guilty of the sin of idola- 
try. Against the sin of idolatry these Jewish writers 
cry out repeatedly. They uniformly declare that it 
is a sin most abhorrent in the sight of heaven. Yet, 
these same Jewish writers record how again and 
again their ancestors (contrary to the universal lean- 
ing towards ancestral adoration and worship), and 
their contemporaries, were guilty of this great 
wickedness. Not only so, but they have pointed out 
how some of their most famous heroes sinned in this 
very particular. Aaron and the golden calf, Solo- 
mon and the later kings being notable examples — 
"Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh, 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 29 

the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before 
Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the 
children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all 
his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed 
unto their gods" (I Kings 11:7, 8). Moreover, there 
is no attempt made to excuse their wrongdoing; in- 
stead, their acts are openly censured and uncompro- 
misingly condemned. As is well known, human 
historians are inclined to conceal or extenuate the 
faults of their favorites. A forged history would 
have clothed friends with every virtue, and would 
not have ventured to mar the effect designed to be 
produced by uncovering the vices of its most dis- 
tinguished personages. Here then, is displayed the 
uniqueness of Scripture history. Its characters are 
painted in the colors of truth and nature. But such 
characters were never sketched by a human pencil. 
Moses and the other writers must have written by 
Divine inspiration. 

The sin of idolatry, while it is the worst of which 
Israel was guilty, is not the only evil recorded 
against them — their whole history is one long story 
of repeated apostasy from Jehovah their God. After 
they had been emancipated from the bondage of 
Egypt and had been miraculously delivered from 
their cruel masters at the Red Sea, they commenced 
their journey towards the Promised Land. Between 
them and their goal lay a march across the wilder- 
ness, and here the depravity of their hearts was 
fully manifested. In spite of the fact that Jehovah, 
by overthrowing their enemies, had plainly demon- 
strated that He was their God, yet no sooner was the 
faith of the Israelites put to the test than their hearts 
failed them. First, their stores of food began to 
give out and they feared they would perish from 



30 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

hunger. Trying circumstances had banished the 
Living God from their thoughts. They complained 
of their lot and murmured against Moses. Yet God 
did not deal with them after their sins nor reward 
them according to their iniquities: in mercy, He 
gave them bread from heaven and furnished them a 
daily supply of manna. But they soon became 
dissatisfied with the manna and lusted after the 
flesh pots of Egypt. Still God dealt with them in 
grace. 

Shortly after God's intervention in giving the Is- 
raelites food to eat, which ought for ever to have 
closed their murmuring mouths, they pitched in 
Rephidim where "there was no water for the people 
to drink. Wherefore the people did chide with Moses, 
and said, Give us water that we may drink. And 
Moses said unto them, Why chide ye with me? 
wherefore do ye tempt the Lord? And the people 
thirsted there for water; and the people murmured 
against Moses, and said, Wherefore is this that thou 
hast brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our 
children and our cattle with thirst? And Moses 
cried unto the Lord, saying, What shall I do unto 
this people? they be almost ready to stone me! T 
What was God's response? Did His anger consume 
them? Did He refuse to bear longer with such a 
stiff-necked people? No: "The Lord said unto Moses, 
Go on before the people, and take with thee of the 
elders of Israel ; and thy rod, wherewith thou smotest 
the river, take in thine hand, and go. Behold, I will 
stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb ; and 
thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come wa- 
ter out of it, that the people may drink" (Exod. 17). 

The above incidents were but sadly typical and 
illustrative of Israel's general conduct. When the 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 31 

spies were sent out to view the Promised Land and 
returned and reported, ten of them magnified the 
difficulties which confronted them and advised the 
people not to attempt an occupation of Canaan ; and 
though the remaining two faithfully reminded the 
Israelites that the mighty Jehovah could easily over- 
come all their difficulties, nevertheless, the nation 
listened not but heeded the word of their skeptical 
advisers. Time after time they provoked Jehovah, and 
in consequence the whole of that generation per- 
ished in the wilderness. When the succeeding gen- 
eration was grown, under the leadership of Joshua 
they entered the Promised Land and by the aid of 
God overthrew many of their enemies and occupied 
much of their territory. But after the death of 
Joshua we read, "There arose another generation 
after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the 
works which He had done for Israel. And the chil- 
dren of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and 
served Baalim. And they forsook the Lord God of 
their fathers, which brought them out of the land 
of Egypt, and followed other gods, of the gods of 
the people that were round about them, and bowed 
themselves unto them, and provoked the Lord to 
anger. And they forsook the Lord, and served Baal 
and Ashtaroth" (Judg. 2:10-13). There is no need 
for us to follow further the fluctuating fortunes of 
Israel: as is well known, under the period of the 
judges their history was a series of returns to the 
Lord and subsequent departures from Him ; repeated 
deliverances from the hands of their enemies, and 
then returning unfaithfulness on their part, followed 
by being again delivered unto their foes. Under the 
kings it was no better. The very first of their kings 
perished thro' his wilful disobedience and apostasy ; 



32 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

the third king, Solomon, violated God's law and 
married heathen women who turned his heart unto 
false gods. Solomon, in turn, was followed by a 
number of idolatrous rulers, and the path of Israel 
ran farther and farther away from the Lord, until 
He delivered them over unto Nebuchadnezzar who 
captured their beloved Jerusalem, destroyed their 
Temple, and carried away the people into captivity. 

In the repeated mention which we have in the 
Old Testament of Israel's sins, we discover, in light 
as clear as day, the absolute honesty and candor of 
those who recorded Israel's history. No attempt 
whatever is made to conceal their folly, their unbe- 
lief, and their wickedness; instead, the corrupt con- 
dition of their hearts is made fully manifest, and 
this, by writers who belonged to, and were born of, 
the same nation. In the whole realm of literature 
there is no parallel. The record of Israel's history 
is absolutely unique. The careful reader would at 
first conclude that Israel as a nation was more de- 
praved than any other, yet further reflection will 
show that the inference is a false one and that the 
real fact is that the history of Israel has been more 
faithfully transmitted than that of any other nation. 
We mean the history of Israel as it is recorded in 
the Holy Scriptures, for in striking contrast thereto 
and in exemplification of all that we have written 
above, it is noteworthy that Josephus passes over in 
silence whatever appeared unfavorable to his na- 
tion ! ! 

Coming now to the New Testament we begin with 
the character of John the Baptist and the position 
that he occupied. John the Baptist is presented as a 
most eminent personage. We are told that his birth 
was due to the miraculous intervention of God. We 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 33 

learn that he was "filled with the Holy Spirit, even 
from his mother's womb" (Luke 1:15). John the 
Baptist was himself the subject of Old Testament 
prediction. The office that he filled was the most 
honorable which ever fell to the lot of any member 
of Adam's race. He was the harbinger of the 
Messiah. He was the one who went before our Lord 
to prepare His way. He had the honor of baptizing 
the blessed Redeemer. Now where would human 
wisdom have placed him among the attendants of 
the Lord Jesus? What position would it have 
ascribed to him? Surely he would have been set 
forth as the most distinguished among our Lord's 
followers; surely, human wisdom would have set 
him at the right hand of the Saviour! Yet what do 
we find? Instead of this, we discover that he had no 
familiar discourse with the Saviour ; instead, we find 
he was treated with apparent neglect; instead, we 
find him represented as occupying the position of a 
doubter who, as the result of his imprisonment, was 
constrained to send a message to his Master to en- 
quire whether or not He were the promised Messiah. 
Had his character been the invention of forgery, 
nothing would have been heard of his lapse of faith. 
Indeed, this is so opposed to the dictates of human 
wisdom, that many have been shocked at the thought 
of ascribing doubts to the eminent forerunner of 
Christ, and have taxed their ingenuity to the utmost 
to force from the obvious meaning of the record 
some other and some different signification. But all 
these ingenuities of human sophistry are dissipated 
by the reply which our Lord made on the occasion 
of John's inquiry (Matt. 11), a reply which shows 
very plainly that the question was asked not for the 
benefit of his disciples, but because the Baptist's own 



34 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

heart was harassed with doubts. Again, we say, that 
no human mind could have invented the character 
of John the Baptist, and the faithfulness of his biog- 
raphers is another proof that the writers of the 
Bible were actuated by something more and some- 
thing higher than the principles of human nature. 
Another striking illustration of our chapter head- 
ing — one which many writers have pointed out — 
is the treatment the Son of God received while He 
tabernacled among men. For two thousand years 
Israel's hopes had all centered in the advent of their 
Messiah. The height of every Jewish woman's am- 
bition was that she might be selected of God to 
have the honor of being the mother of the promised 
Seed. For centuries, every pious Hebrew had looked 
and longed for the day when He should appear who 
was to occupy David's throne and rule and reign in 
righteousness. Yet, when He did appear how was 
the Promised One received? "He was despised and 
rejected of men." "He came unto His own and His 
own received Him not." Those who were His breth- 
ren according to the flesh "hated" Him "without a 
cause." The very nation which gave Him birth 
and to which He ministered in infinite grace and 
blessing demanded that He should be crucified. The 
startling thing which we desire to particularly em- 
phasize is, that the narrators of this awful tragedy 
are fellow countrymen of those upon whose heads 
rested the guilt of its perpetration. It was Jewish 
writers who recorded the fearful crime of the Jewish 
nation against their Messiah! And, we say again, 
that in the recording of that crime no attempt what- 
ever is made to palliate or extenuate their wickedness ; 
instead, it is denounced and condemned in the most 
uncompromising terms. Israel is openly charged with 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 35 

having taken and with "wicked hands 7 7 slain the 
"Lord of Glory. 77 Such an honest and impartial 
recital of Israel's crowning sin can only be explained 
on the ground that what these men wrote w T as in- 
spired of God. 

One more illustration must suffice. After our 
Lord's death and resurrection, He commissioned His 
disciples to go forth carrying from Him a message 
first to His own nation and later to "every creature. 77 
This message, be it noted, was not a malediction 
called down upon the heads of His heartless mur- 
derers, but a proclamation of grace. It was a mes- 
sage of good new^s, of glad tidings — forgiveness was 
to be preached in His name to all men. How then 
would human wisdom suppose such a message will 
be received? It is further to be observed that those 
who were thus commissioned to carry the Gospel to 
the lost, were vested with power to heal the sick and 
to cast out demons. Surely such a beneficent min- 
istry will meet wife a universal welcome! Yet, 
incredible as it may appear, the Apostles of Christ 
met with no more appreciation than did their Mas- 
ter. They, too, were despised and rejected. They, 
too, were hated and persecuted. They, too, were ill- 
treated, imprisoned, and put to a shameful death. 
And this, not merely from the hands of the bigoted 
Jews, but from the cultured Greeks and from the 
democratic and freedom loving Romans as well. 
Though these Apostles brought blessing, they them- 
selves were cursed ; though they sought to emancipate 
men from the thraldom of sin and Satan, yet they 
were themselves captured and thrown into prison; 
though they healed the sick and raised the dead, they 
suffered martyrdom. Surely it is apparent to every 
impartial mind that the New Testament is no mere 



36 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

human invention ; and surely it is evident from the 
honesty of its writers in so faithfully portraying the 
enmity of the carnal mind against God, that their 
productions can only be accounted for on the ground 
that they spake and wrote "not of themselves/' but 
"as they were moved by the Holy Spirit' ' (II Peter 
1:21). 



CHAPTER FOUR 

THE CHARACTER OF ITS TEACHINGS EVI- 
DENCES THE DIVINE AUTHORSHIP 
OF THE BIBLE 



THE CHARACTER OF ITS TEACHINGS EVI- 
DENCES THE DIVINE AUTHORSHIP 
OF THE BIBLE 

C>^$ AKE its teachings about God Himself. What 
[$\ does the Bible teach vis about God? It declares 
n ^s^ that He is Eternal: "Before the mountains 
were brought forth, or ever Thou hadst formed the 
earth and the world, even from everlasting to ever- 
lasting, Thou art God" (Ps. 90 :2) . It reveals the 
fact that He is Infinite: "But will God indeed dwell 
on the earth? Behold, the heaven and heaven of 
heavens cannot contain Thee" (I Kings 8:27). 
Vast as we know the universe to be, it has its 
bounds; but we must go beyond them to conceive 
of God — "Canst thou by searching find out God? 
Canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection? 
It is as high as heaven; what canst thou do? deep- 
er than hell; what canst thou know T ? The meas- 
ure thereof is longer than the earth, and broader 
than the sea" (Job 11:7-9). It makes mention of 
His Sovereignty : "Remember the former things of 
old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am 
God, and there is none like Me, declaring the end 
from the beginning, and from ancient times the 
things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel 
shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure" (Is. 46: 
9, 10). It affirms that He is Omnipotent: "Behold 
I am the Lord, the God of all flesh : is there anything 
too hard for Me?" (Jer. 32:27). It intimates that 
He is Omniscient: "Great is our Lord, and of great 
power: His understanding is infinite" (Ps. 147 :5) . It 



40 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

teaches that He is Omnipresent: "Can any hide him- 
self in secret places that I shall not see him? saith 
the Lord. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the 
Lord" (Jer. 23:24). It declares that He is Immuta- 
ble: "The same yesterday, and to day, and for ever" 
(Heb. 13 :8) . Yea, that with Him "is no variableness, 
neither shadow of turning" (James 1:17). It re- 
veals that He is "The Judge of all the earth" (Gen. 
18:25) and that every one shall yet have to "give 
an account of himself to God" (Rom. 14:12). It 
announces that He is inflexibly just in all His deal- 
ings so that He can by "no means clear the guilty" 
(Num. 14:18) ; that all will be judged "according 
to their works" (Rev. 20:12), and that they shall 
reap whatsoever they have sown (Gal. 6:7). It re- 
veals the fact that He is absolutely holy, dwelling in 
light inaccessible. So holy that He is "of purer eyes 
than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity" 
(Hab. 1:13). So holy that even the seraphim have 
to veil their faces in His presence (Is. 6:2). So 
holy that the heavens are not clean in His sight 
(Job 15:15). So holy that the best of men when 
face to face with their Maker, have to cry, "I abhor 
myself" (Job. 42:6) ; "Woe is me! For I am un- 
done" (Is. 6:5). Such a delineation of Deity is as 
far beyond man's conception as the heavens are 
above the earth. No man, and no number of men, 
ever invented such a God as this. Ransack the libra- 
ries of the ancients, examine the musings of the 
mystics, study the religions of the heathen and 
nothing will be found which can for a moment be 
compared with the sublime and exalted description 
of God's character which is furnished by the Bible. 
The teachings of the Bible about man are unique. 
Unlike all other books in the world, the Bible con- 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 41 

demns man and all his doings. It never eulogizes 
his wisdom, nor praises his achievements. On the 
contrary, it declares that "every man at his best 
state is altogether vanity" (Ps. 39:5). Instead of 
teaching that man is a noble character, evolving 
heavenwards, it tells him that all his righteousnesses 
(his best works) are as "filthy rags/' that he is a 
lost sinner, incapable of bettering his condition ; that 
he is deserving only of hell. 

The picture which the Scriptures give of man is 
deeply humiliating and entirely different from all 
which are drawn by human pencils. The Word of 
God describes the state of the natural man in the 
following language: — "There is none righteous, no, 
not one. There is none that understandeth, there is 
none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out 
of the way, they are together become unprofitable. 
There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their 
throat is an open sepulchre ; with their tongues they 
have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their 
lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. 
Their feet are swift to shed blood: destruction and 
misery are in their ways : and the way of peace have 
they not known. There is no fear of God before 
their eyes" (Rom. 3:10-18). 

Instead of making Satan the source of all the 
black crimes of which we are guilty, the Bible de- 
clares, "For from within, out of the heart of man 
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, mur- 
ders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciv- 
iousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 
all these evil things come from within and defile the 
man" (Mark 7:21-23). Such a conception of man 
— so different from man's own ideas, and so humili- 
ating to his proud heart — never could have emanated 



42 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

from man himself. "The heart is deceitful above 
all things and desperately wicked" (Jer. 17:9) is a 
concept that never originated in any human mind. 

The teachings of the Bible about the world are 
unique. In nothing perhaps are the teachings of 
Scripture and the writings of man at such variance 
as they are at this point. Using the term as mean- 
ing the world-system in contradistinction to the 
earth, w 7 hat is the direction of man's thoughts con- 
cerning the same? Man thinks highly of the world, 
for he regards it as his world. It is that which his 
labors have produced and he looks upon it with 
satisfaction and pride. He boasts that "the world is 
growing better." He declares that the world is be- 
coming more civilized and more humanized. Man's 
thoughts upon this subject have been well summar- 
ized by the poet in the familiar language — "God is 
in heaven: All's well with the world." But what 
saith the Scriptures? Upon this subject, too, we dis- 
cover that God's thoughts are very different from 
ours. The Bible uniformly condemns the world and 
speaks of it as a thing of evil. We shall not attempt 
to quote every passage which does this, but shall 
merely single out a few specimen Scriptures. 

"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me 
before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the 
world would love his own : but because ye are not of 
the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, 
therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:18,19). 
This passage teaches that the world hates both Christ 
and His followers. "The wisdom of this world is 
foolishness with God" (I Cor. 3:19). Certainly no 
uninspired pen wrote these words. "Ye adulterers 
and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of 
the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 43 

will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" 
(James 4:4). Here again we learn that the world 
is an evil thing, condemned by God, and to be 
shunned by His children. "Love not the world, 
neither the things that are in the w-orld. If any man 
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 
For all that is in the w r orld, the lust of the flesh, and 
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of 
the Father, but is of the world 7 ' (I John 2:15, 16). 
Here w T e have a definition of the world: it is all that 
is opposed to the Father — opposed in its principles 
and philosophy, its maxims and methods, its aims 
and ambitions, its trend and its end. "And the ivhole 
world lieth in the Evil One" (I John 5:19, R. V.). 
Here we learn why it is that the w r orld hates Christ 
and His followers; why its wisdom is foolishness 
with God; why it is condemned by God and must 
be shunned by His children — it is under the domin- 
ion of that old serpent, the devil, whom Scripture 
specifically denominates "The prince of this world." 
The teaching of the Bible about sin is unique. 
Man regards sin as a misfortune and ever seeks to 
minimize its enormity. In these days, sin is re- 
ferred to as ignorance, as a necessary stage in man's 
development, By others, sin is looked upon as a 
mere negation, the opposite of good; w T hile Mrs. 
Eddy and her followers went so far as to deny its 
existence altogether. But the Bible, unlike every 
other book, strips man of all excuse and emphasizes 
his culpability. In the Bible sin is never palliated 
or extenuated, but from first to last the Holy Scrip- 
tures insist upon its enormity and heinousness. The 
Word of God declares that "sin is very grievous" 
(Gen. 18:20) and that our sins provoke God to 
anger (livings 16:2). It speaks of the "deceitful- 



44 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

ness of sin" (Heb. 3:13) and insists that sin is "ex- 
ceeding sinful" (Rom. 7:13). It declares that all 
sin is sin against God (Ps. 51:4) and against His 
Christ (I Cor. 8:12). It regards our sins as being 
"as scarlet" and "red like crimson" (Is. 1:18). It 
declares that sin is more than an act, it is an atti- 
tude. It affirms that sin is more than a non-com- 
pliance with God's law — it is rebellion against the 
One who gave the law. It teaches that "sin is lawless- 
ness" (I John 3:4, R. V.), which means that sin 
is spiritual anarchy, open defiance against the Al- 
mighty. Moreover, it singles out no particular 
class; it condemns all alike. It announces that "all 
have sinned and come short of the glory of God," 
that "there is none righteous, no, not one" (Rom. 
3). Did man ever write such an indictment against 
himself? What human mind ever invented such a 
description of sin as that discovered in the Bible? 
Whoever would have imagined that sin was such a 
vile and dreadful thing in the sight of God that 
nothing but the precious blood of His own beloved 
Son could make an atonement for it ! 
v The teaching of the Bible about the punishment 
of sin is unique. A defective view of sin necessarily 
leads to an inadequate conception of what is due sin. 
Minimize the gravity and enormity of sin and you 
must proportionately reduce the sentence which it 
deserves. Many are crying out to-day against the 
justice of the eternal punishment of sin. They com- 
plain that the penalty does not fit the crime. They 
argue that it is unrighteous for a sinner to suffer 
eternally in consequence of a short life span of 
wrong-doing. But even in this world it is not the 
length of time which it takes to commit the crime 
which determines the severity of the sentence. Many 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 45 

a man has suffered a life term of imprisonment for 
a crime which required only a few minutes for its 
perpetration. Apart, however, from this considera- 
tion, eternal punishment is just if sin be looked at 
from God's viewpoint. But this is just what the 
majority of men refuse to do. They look at sin and 
its deserts solely from the human side. One reason 
why the Bible was written was to correct our ideas 
and views about sin, to teach us what an unspeaka- 
bly awful and vile thing it is, to show us sin as God 
sees it. For one single sin Adam and Eve were 
banished from Eden. For one single sin Canaan 
and all his posterity were cursed. For a single sin 
Korah and his company went down alive into the 
pit. For a single sin Moses was debarred from en- 
tering the Promised Land. For a single sin Achan 
and his family were stoned to death. For a single 
sin Elisha's servant w r as smitten with leprosy. For 
a single sin Ananias and Sapphira were cut off out 
of the land of the living. Why? to teach us what 
an infinite evil it is to revolt against the thrice holy 
God. We repeat, that did men but see the terrible- 
ness of sin — did they but see that it was sin that put 
to a shameful death the Lord of Glory — then they 
would realize that nothing short of eternal punish- 
ment would meet the demands which justice has 
upon sinners. 

But the great majority of men do not see the 
meetness or justice of eternal punishment; on the 
contrary, they cry out against it. In lands which w r ere 
not illumined by the Old Testament Scriptures, 
w T here there existed any belief in a future life, it was 
held that at death the wicked either passed thro' some 
temporary suffering for remedial and purifying 
purposes or else they w T ere annihilated. Even in 



46 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

Christendom, where the Word of God has held a 
prominent and public place for centuries, the great 
bulk of the people do not believe in eternal punish- 
ment. They argue that God is too merciful and 
kind to ban one of His own creatures to endless 
misery. Yea, not a few of the Lord's own people are 
afraid to take the solemn teachings of the Scriptures 
on this subject at their face value. It is therefore 
evident that had the Bible been written by un- 
inspired men; had it been a mere human composi- 
tion, it certainly would not have taught the eternal 
and conscious torment of all who die out of Christ. 
The fact that the Bible does so teach is conclusive 
proof that it was written by men who spake not of 
themselves, but as they were "moved by the Holy 
Spirit." ' ' 

The teachings of God's Word upon eternal pun- 
ishment are as clear and explicit as they are solemn 
and awful. They declare that the doom of the Christ 
rejector is a conscious, never-ending, indescribable 
torment. The Bible depicts the place of punishment 
as a realm where the "w r orm dieth not" and "the fire 
is not quenched" (Mark 9:48). It speaks of it as a 
lake of fire and brimstone (Rev. 20:10), where even 
a drop of water is denied the agonized sufferer (Luke 
16:24). It declares that "the smoke of their torment 
ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no 
rest day nor night" (Rev. 14:11). It represents the 
world of the lost as a scene into which penetrates no 
light — "the blackness of darkness for ever" (Jude 1: 
13) — a doom alleviated by no ray of hope. In short, 
the portion of the lost will be unbearable^ yet it will 
have to be borne, and borne for ever. What mortal 
mind conceived of such a fate? Such a conception i& 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 47 

too repugnant and repulsive to the human heart to 
have had its birth on the earth. 

The teaching of the Bible about Salvation from 
Sin is unique. Man's thoughts about salvation, like 
every other subject which engages his mind, are de- 
fective and deficient. Hence the force of the ad- 
monition — "Let the wicked forsake his way and the 
unrighteous man his thoughts" (Is. 55:7). In the 
first place, left to himself, man fails to realize his 
need of salvation. In the pride of his heart he 
imagines that he is sufficient in himself, and thro' 
the darkening of his understanding by sin he fails 
to comprehend his ruined and lost condition. Like 
the self-righteous Pharisee, he thanks God that he 
is not as other men, that he is morally the superior 
of the savage or the criminal, and refuses to believe 
that so far as his standing before God is concerned 
there is "no difference." It is not until the Holy 
Spirit deals with him that man is constrained to cry, 
"God be merciful tome a sinner." 

In the second place man is ignorant of the way of 
salvation. Even when man has been brought to the 
place where he recognizes that he is not prepared to 
meet God, and that if he died in his present state he 
would be eternally lost: even then he has no right 
conception of the Remedy. Being ignorant of God's 
righteousness he goes about to establish his own 
righteousness. He supposes that he must make some 
personal reparation for his past wrong-doings, that 
he must work for his salvation, do something to 
merit the esteem of God, and thus win heaven as a 
reward. The highest concept of man's mind is that 
of merit. To him salvation is a wage to be earned, 
a crown to be coveted, a prize to be won. The proof 
of this is to be seen in the fact that even when par- 



48 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

don and life are presented as a free gift, the universal 
tendency, at first, is to regard it as being "too good 
to be true." Yet, such is the plain teaching of God's 
Word — "For by grace are ye saved through faith; 
and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God : not 
of works; lest any man should boast" (Eph. 2:8, 9). 
And again. "Not by works of righteousness which 
we have done, but according to His mercy He saved 
us" (Titus 3:5). 

If it is true that man left to himself would never 
have fully realized his need of salvation, and would 
never have discovered that it was by grace thro' faith 
and not of works, how much less would the human 
mind have been capable of rising to the level of what 
God's Word teaches about the nature of salvation and 
the glorious and marvelous destiny of the saved! 
Who would have thought that the Maker and Ruler 
of the universe should lay hold of poor, fallen, de- 
praved men and women and lifting them out of the 
miry clay should make them His own sons and 
daughters, and should seat them at His own table! 
Who would ever have suggested that those who de- 
serve naught but everlasting shame and contempt, 
should be made "heirs of God and joint-heirs with 
Christ"! Who would have dreamed that beggars 
should be lifted from the dunghill of sin and made 
to sit together with Christ in heavenly places! Who 
would have imagined that the corrupted offspring 
of disobedient Adam should be exalted to a position 
higher than that occupied by the unfallen angels! 
Who would have dared to affirm that one day we 
shall be "made like Christ" and "be for ever with the 
Lord"! Such concepts were as far beyond the reach 
of the highest human intellect as they were of the 
rudest savage. "But as it is written, Eye hath not 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 49 

seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the 
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared 
for them that love Him. But God hath revealed 
them unto us by His Spirit : for the Spirit searcheth 
all things, yea, the deep things of God" (I Cor. 
2:9,10). 

Again we ask, What human intellect could have 
devised a means whereby God could be just and yet 
merciful, merciful and yet just? What mortal mind 
would ever have dreamed of a free and full salva- 
tion, bestowed on hell-deserving sinners, "without 
money and without price"? And what flight of 
carnal imagination would ever have conceived of the 
Son of God Himself being "made sin" for us and 
dying the Just for the unjust? 

The teaching of the Bible concerning the Saviour 
of sinners is unique. The description which the 
Scriptures furnish of the Person, the Character, and 
the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ is without any- 
thing that approaches a parallel in the whole realm 
of literature. It is easier to suppose that man could 
create a world than to believe he invented the char- 
acter of our adorable Redeemer. Given a piece of 
machinery that is delicate, complex, exact in all its 
movements, and we know it must be the product of a 
competent mechanic. Given a work of art that is beau- 
tiful, symmetrical, original, and we know it must be 
the product of a master artist. None but an Angelo 
could have designed Saint Peter's ; none but a Raphael 
could have painted the "transfiguration;" none but 
a Milton could have written a "Paradise Lost." And, 
none but the Holy Spirit could have produced the 
peerless portrait of the Lord Jesus which we find in 
the Gospels. In Christ all excellencies combine. 
Here is one of the many respects in which He dif- 



50 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

fers from all other Bible characters. In each of the 
great heroes of Scripture some trait stands out with 
peculiar distinctness — Noah, faithful testimony ; 
Abraham, faith in God; Isaac, submission to his fa- 
ther ; Joseph, love for his brethren ; Moses, unselfish- 
ness and meekness ; Joshua, courage and leadership ; 
Job. fortitude and patience ; Daniel, fidelity to God ; 
Paul, zeal in service; John, spiritual discernment — 
but in the Lord Jesus every grace is found. More- 
over, in Him all these perfections were properly 
poised and balanced. He was meek yet regal; He 
was gentle yet fearless; He was compassionate yet 
just; He was submissive yet authoritative; He was 
Divine yet human ; add to these, the fact that He was 
absolutely "without sin" and His uniqueness be- 
comes apparent. Nowhere in all the writings of 
antiquity is there to be found the presentation of 
such a peerless and wondrous character. 

Not only is the portrayal of Christ's character 
without any rival, but the teaching of the Bible 
concerning His Person and Work is also utterly in- 
credible on any other basis save that they are part 
of a Divine revelation. Who would have dared to im- 
agine the Creator and Upholder of the universe tak- 
ing upon Himself the form of a servant and being 
made in the likeness of men? Who would have con- 
ceived the idea of the Lord of Glory being born in 
a manger? Who would have dreamed of the Object 
of angelic worship becoming so poor that He had 
not where to lay His head? Who would have de- 
clared that the One before whom the seraphim veil 
their faces should be led as a lamb to the slaughter, 
should have suffered His own blessed face to be de- 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 51 

filed with the vile spittle of man, and should permit 
the creatures of His hand to scourge and buffet 
Him? Whoever would have conceived of Emman- 
uel becoming obedient unto death, even the death 
of the cross ! 

Here then is an argument which the simplest can 
grasp. The Scriptures contain their own evidence 
that they are Divinely inspired. Every page of Holy 
Writ is stamped with Jehovah's autograph. The 
uniqueness of its teachings demonstrates the unique- 
ness of its Source. The teachings of the Scriptures 
about God Himself, about man, about the world, 
about sin, about eternal punishment, about salvation, 
about the Lord Jesus Christ, are proof that the Bible 
is not the product of any man or any number of 
men, but is in truth a revelation from God. 



CHAPTER FIVE 

THE FULFILLED PROPHECIES OF THE 

BIBLE BESPEAK THE OMNISCIENCE 

OF ITS AUTHOR 



THE FULFILLED PROPHECIES OF THE 

BIBLE BESPEAK THE OMNISCIENCE 

OF ITS AUTHOR 

fN Isaiah 41:21-23 we have what is probably 
the most remarkable challenge to be found 
in the Bible. "Produce your cause, saith the 
Lord ; bring forth your strong reasons, saith the King 
of Jacob. Let them bring them forth, and show us 
what shall happen ; let them show the former things, 
what they be, that we may consider them, and know 
the latter end of them; or declare us things for to 
come. Show the things that are to come hereafter, 
that we may know that ye are gods." This Scripture 
has both a negative and a positive value : negatively 
it suggests an infallible criterion by which we may 
test the claims of religious impostors; positively, it 
calls attention to an unanswerable argument for the 
truthfulness of God's Word. Jehovah bids the 
prophets of false faiths to successfully predict events 
lying in the far distant future and their success or 
failure will show whether or not they are gods or 
merely pretenders and deceivers. On the other hand, 
-the demonstrated fact that God alone grasps the 
ages and in His Word declares the end from the 
beginning, shows that He is God and that the Scrip- 
tures are His Inspired Revelation to mankind. 

Again and again men have attempted to predict 
future events but always with the most disastrous 
failure, the anticipations of the most far-seeing and 
the precautions of the wisest are mocked repeatedly 



56 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

by the bitter irony of events. Man stands before an 
impenetrable wall of darkness, he is unable to fore- 
see the events of even the next hour. None knows 
what a day may bring forth. To the finite mind the 
future is filled with unknown possibilities. How 
then can we explain the hundreds of detailed proph- 
ecies in the Scriptures which have been literally ful- 
filled to the letter, hundreds of years after they were 
uttered? How can we account for the fact that the 
Bible successfully foretold hundreds, and in some 
instances thousands of years beforehand, the History 
of the Jews, the Course of the Gentiles, and the Ex- 
periences of the Church? The most conservative of 
critics, and the most daring assailants of God's Word 
are compelled to acknowledge that all the Books of 
the Old Testament were written hundreds of years 
before the incarnation of our Lord, hence, the actual 
and accurate fulfillment of these prophecies can only 
be explained on the hypothesis that "Prophecy came 
not at any time by the will of men: but holy men 
of God, spake, moved by the Holy Ghost." 

The Inspirer of the Scriptures has told us that 
"We have also a more sure word of prophecy; where- 
unto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light 
that shineth in a dark place" (II Peter 1:19). In 
the limited space at our command we shall appeal 
to but a few from among the many fulfilled prophe- 
cies of God's Word, and shall limit ourselves to 
those which have reference to the Person and Work 
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The cumulative force of 
these will be sufficient, we trust, to convince any 
impartial inquirer that none other but the mind of 
God could have disclosed the future and unveiled 
beforehand far distant events. 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 57 

'The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophe- 
cy." The Lamb of God is the one great object and 
subject of the Prophetic Word. In Genesis 3:15 we 
have the first word about the Coming of Christ. 
Speaking to the serpent, Jehovah said, "And I will 
put enmity between thee and the woman, and be- 
tween thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy 
head, and thou shalt bruise His heel." Note that the 
Coming One was to be the woman's "seed;" the 
Miraculous Character of our Lord's Birth being thus 
foretold four thousand years before He was born at 
Bethlehem ! 

In Genesis 22 :18 we have the second distinct Mes- 
sianic prophecy. Unto* Abraham, the angel of the 
Lord declared, "And in thy seed shall all the nations 
of th£ earth be blessed." Not only was the Saviour 
of sinners to be human as well as Divine, not only 
was He to be the "woman's" seed, but in the above 
Scripture it was declared that He should be a de- 
scendant of Abraham — an Israelite. How this was 
fulfilled we may see by a reference to the first verse 
in the New Testament, where we are told (Matt. 1: 
1) that Jesus Christ was "The Son of David, the son 
of Abraham." 

But still further was the compass narrowed down, 
for we have intimated in the Old Testament Scrip- 
tures the very Tribe from which the Messiah was to 
issue — our Lord was to come of the Tribe of Judah 
(the "kingly" tribe). He was to be a descendant of 
David. Nathan the prophet was commanded by God 
to go and say to David, "I will set up thy seed after 
thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I 
will stablish His kingdom. He shall build an house 
for My name, and I will stablish the throne of His 
kingdom for ever" (II Sam. 7:12, 13). And again, 



58 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

in Psalm 132:11 David declares concerning the 
promised Messiah, "The Lord hath sworn in truth 
unto David; (He will not turn from it) Of the fruit 
of thy body will I set upon thy throne. " 

Not only was our Lord's nationality defined hun- 
dreds of years before His incarnation, but the very 
place of His birth was also given. In Micah 5 :2 we 
are informed, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, 
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, 
but out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is 
to be Ruler in Israel ; whose goings forth have been 
from of old, from the days of eternity/' Christ was 
to be born in Bethlehem, and not only in one of the 
several villages which bore that name in Palestine, 
but Bethlehem of Judea was to be the birth-place of 
the world's Redeemer ; and though Mary was a native 
of Nazareth (far distant from Bethlehem) yet 
through the providence of God, His Word was literal- 
ly fulfilled by His Son being born in Bethlehem of 
Judea. 

Further, the very time of Messiah's appearing 
was given through both Jacob and Daniel (see Gen. 
49:10 and Daniel 9:24-26). Now in order to ap- 
preciate the force of these marvelous, super-natural 
prophecies, let the reader seek to foretell the na- 
tionality, place and time of the birth of some one 
who shall be born in the twenty-fifth century A. D., 
and then he will realize that none but a man in- 
spired and informed by God Himself could perform 
such an otherwise impossible feat. 

So definite and distinct were the Old Testament 
prophecies respecting the Birth of Christ, that the 
hope of Israel became the Messianic Hope ; all their 
expectations were centered in the coming of the Mes- 
siah. It is therefore the more remarkable that their 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 59 

sacred Scriptures should contain another set of 
prophecies which predicted that He should be de- 
spised by His own nation and rejected by His own 
kinsmen. We can only now T call attention to one of 
the prophecies which declared that the Messiah of 
Israel should be slighted and scorned by His brethren 
according to the fle^h. 

In Isaiah 53:2. 3 we read, "And when we (Israel) 
shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should de- 
sire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a 
Man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and we 
hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, 
and ice esteemed Him not!" We pause here for a 
moment to enlarge upon this strange and striking 
phenomenon. 

For more than fifteen centuries the Coming of the 
Messiah had been the one great national Hope of 
Israel. From the cradle the sons of Abraham were 
taught to pray and long for His advent. The eager- 
ness with w 7 hich they awaited the appearing of the 
Star of Jacob is absolutely without parallel in the 
history of any other nation. How then can we ac- 
count for the fact that when He did come He was 
despised and rejected? How can we explain the fact 
that side by side with the intense longing for the 
manifestation of their King, one of their own proph- 
ets foretold that when He did appear men would 
hide their faces from Him and esteem Him not? 
Finally, what explanation have we to offer for the 
fact that such things were predicted centuries be- 
fore He came to this earth and that they tvere liter- 
ally fulfilled to the very letter? As another has said, 
"No prediction could have seemed more improbable, 
and yet none ever received a sadder and more com- 
plete fulfillment." 



60 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

We pass on now to those predictions which have 
reference to the death of our Lord. If it was won- 
derful that an Israelitish prophet should foretell the 
rejection of the Messiah by His own nation, what 
shall we say to the fact that the Old Testament 
Scriptures prophesied in detail concerning the man- 
ner or form of His death ? Yet again and again we 
find this to be the case ! Let us examine a few typi- 
cal instances. 

First, it was intimated that our Lord should be be- 
trayed and sold for the price of a common slave. In 
Zechariah 11:12 we read, "So they weighed for My 
price thirty pieces of silver" Who was it that was 
able to declare, centuries before the event came to 
pass, the exact amount that Judas should receive for 
his dastardly deed? In Isaiah 53:7 we have another 
line in this marvelous picture which human wisdom 
could not possibly have supplied — "He is brought as 
a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her 
shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth" 
Who could have foreseen this most unusual sight, of 
a prisoner standing before his judges with his life 
at stake, yet attempting and offering no defense? 
Yet this is precisely what did happen in connection 
with our Lord, for we are told in Mark 15 :5, "But 
Jesus yet answered nothing; so that Pilate mar- 
veled." Again; who was it that knew seven hundred 
years before the greatest tragedy of human history 
was enacted that the Son of God, the King of the 
Jews, the gentlest and meekest Man who ever trod 
our earth, should be scourged and spat upon? Yet 
such an experience was foretold: "I gave My back 
to the smiters, and My cheeks to them that plucked 
off the hair: I hid not My face from shame and 
spitting" (Is. 50:6). 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 61 

Further ; the form of capital punishment reserved 
for Jewish criminals was "stoning to death/ 7 and in 
David's time the experience of "crucifixion" was en- 
tirely unknown, yet we find in Psalm 22:16 that 
Israel's king was inspired to write, "They pierced 
My hands and My feet!" Again; what human fore- 
sight could have seen that in His thirst-agonies upon 
the cross our Lord should be given gall and vinegar 
to drink? Yet it was declared a thousand years be- 
fore the Lord of Glory was nailed to the tree that, 
"They gave Me also gall for My meat; and in My 
thirst they gave Me vinegar to drink" (Ps. 69:21). 
Finally; we ask, how could David foretell, unless 
he was inspired by the Holy Spirit, that our Lord 
should be taunted by His enemies and challenged 
to come down from the cross? Yet in Psalm 22:7, 
8 we read, "All they that see Me laugh Me to scorn : 
they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 
He trusted on the Lord that He would deliver Him : 
let Him deliver Him, seeing He delighted in Him." 
Such examples as the above might be multiplied in- 
definitely, but sufficient illustrations have already 
been given to warrant us in saying that the fulfilled 
prophecies of the Bible bespeak the omniscience of 
its Author. 

Were it necessary, and had we the space at our 
command, scores of additional fulfilled prophecies 
relating to the History of Israel, the Course of the 
Gentiles, and the Experiences of the Church — proph- 
ecies just as definite, accurate, and remarkable as 
those relating to the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ 
— could be given, but our present limits and pur- 
pose forbid us so doing. 

Having examined a few of the startling proph- 
ecies which treat of the Birth and Death of our Sa- 



62 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

viour, it now only remains for us to apply in a word 
the significance of this argument. Many have read 
over these Scriptures before and perhaps have re- 
garded them as being wonderfully descriptive of the 
Advent and Passion of Jesus Christ, but how many 
have carefully weighed the fact that each of these 
Scriptures were in indisputable existence more than 
five hundred years before our Lord came to this 
earth? 

Man is unable to accurately predict events which 
are but twenty-four hours distant; only the Divine 
Mind could have foretold the future, centuries 
before it came to be. Hence, we affirm with the ut- 
most confidence, that the hundreds of fulfilled proph- 
ecies in the Bible attest and demonstrate the truth 
that the Scriptures are the inspired, infallible, iner- 
rant Word of God. 



CHAPTER SIX 

THE TYPICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE 

SCRIPTURES DECLARE THEIR 

DIVINE AUTHORSHIP 



THE TYPICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE 

SCRIPTURES DECLARE THEIR 

DIVINE AUTHORSHIP 

^TsfN the volume of the Book it is written of Me" 
(Heb. 10:7). Christ is the Key to the Scrip- 
*• tures. Said He, "Search the Scriptures * * they 
are they which testify of Me" (John 5:39), and the 
"Scriptures" to which He had reference, w T ere not the 
four Gospels for they were not then written, but the 
writings of Moses and the prophets. The Old Testa- 
ment Scriptures then are something more than a 
compilation of historical records, something more 
than a system of social and religious legislation, 
something more than a code of ethics. The Old 
Testament Scriptures are fundamentally a stage on 
which is shown forth in vivid symbolism and ritual- 
ism the whole plan of redemption. The events re- 
corded in the Old Testament were actual occurrences, 
yet they were also typical prefigurations. Through- 
out the Old Testament dispensations God caused to 
be shadowed forth in parabolic representation the 
whole work of redemption by means of a constant 
and vivid appeal to the senses. This w r as in full 
accord with a fundamental law in the economy of 
God. Nothing is brought to maturity at once. As 
it is in the natural world, so it is in the spiritual: 
there is first the blade, then the ear, and then the 
full corn in the ear. Concerning the Person and 
work of the Lord Jesus, God first gave a series of 
pictorial representations, later a large number of 



66 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

specific prophecies, and last of all, when the fullness 
of time was come, God sent forth His own Son. 

It is failure to discern the typical import of the 
Old Testament Scriptures which has caused so great 
a part of them to be slighted by so many readers of 
the Bible. To multitudes of people the Pentateuch 
is little more than a compilation of effete and mean- 
ingless ceremonial rites, and if there is nothing in 
them more excellent than their outward semblance, 
then, surely, it is passing strange that they should 
find a place in the Word of God. Take Christ out 
of Old Testament ritual and you are left with noth- 
ing but the dry and empty shell of a nut. It is 
therefore a matter of small surprise that those who 
see so little of Christ in the Old Testament Scrip- 
tures should undervalue the instruction and edifica- 
tion to be derived from every part of them, and that 
they entertain such degrading ideas of their inspira- 
tion. Deny that there is a spiritual meaning in all 
the laws and customs of the Israelites and what food 
for the soul can be gathered from a study of them? 
Deny that they are so many typical representations 
of Christ and His Sacrifice for sin and you cast re- 
proach on the name and wisdom of God by suggest- 
ing that He instituted the carnal ordinances, the 
cumbrous ceremonies, the propitiations by sacrifice 
of animals, which are recorded in the opening Books 
of the Bible. 

The typical import and the spiritual value of the 
Jewish economy, both as a whole and in its many 
parts, is expressly affirmed in the New Testament. 
The Apostle Paul, when referring to the narratives 
and events recorded in the Old Testament, declares 
that, "Whatsoever things were written aforetime 
were written for our learning" (Rom. 15:4). Later, 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 67 

when making mention of Israel's exodus from Egypt 
and their journey through the wilderness, he affirms, 
"Now these things were our examples' 7 and "Now all 
these things happened unto them for ensamples: 
(marg. "types") and they are written for our ad- 
monition" (I Cor. 10:6,11). Again; when com- 
menting upon, and while expounding the spiritual 
significance of the Tabernacle, he declares that it 
was "the example and shadoiv of heavenly things" 
(Heb. 8:5). In the next chapter he declares, "The 
Tabernacle * * was a figure for the time then pres- 
ent" (Heb. 9 :8, 9) and in Hebrews 10 he states, "The 
law" had "a shadoiv of good things to come" (10:1). 
From these declarations it is evident that God Him- 
self caused the Tabernacle to be erected exactly ac- 
cording to the pattern which He had showed Moses, 
for the express purpose that it should be a type for 
symbolizing heavenly things. Hence it becomes our 
privilege and bounden duty to seek by the help of 
the Holy Spirit to ascertain the meaning of the types 
of the Old Testament. 

In addition to the express declarations of the New 
Testament quoted above, there are a number of addi- 
tional passages which also teach the same thing. 
John the Baptist hailed our Saviour as "The Lamb 
of God which taketh away the sin of the world," 
that is, as the great Antitype of the sacrificial lambs 
of Old Testament ritual. In His discourse with 
Nicodemus our Lord alluded to the lifting up of the 
Brazen Serpent in the wilderness as a type of His own 
lifting up on the cross. Writing to the Corinthians 
the Apostle Paul said, "Christ our Passover is sacri- 
ficed for us" (I Cor. 5:7), thus signifying that Exo- 
dus 12 pointed forward to the Lord Jesus. Writing 
to the Galatians the same Apostle makes mention of 



68 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

the history of Abraham, his wives and his children, 
and then states "which things are an allegory" (Gal. 
4:24). Now there are many brethren who will own 
the typical significance of these things, but who re- 
fuse to acknowledge that anything else in the Old 
Testament has a typical meaning save those which 
are expressly interpreted in the New. But this we 
conceive to be a mistake and to place a limit upon 
the scope and value of the Word of God. Rather 
let us regard those Old Testament types which are 
expounded in the New Testament as samples of 
others which are not explained. Are there no more 
prophecies in the Old Testament than those which, 
in the New Testament, are said to be "fulfilled"? 
Assuredly. Then let us admit the same concerning 
the types. 

Several volumes would be filled were we to dwell 
upon everything in the Old Testament which has a 
typical meaning and spiritual application. All we 
can now attempt is to single out a few illustrations 
as samples, leaving our readers to pursue further 
this entrancing study for themselves. 

The very first chapter of Genesis is rich in its 
spiritual contents. Not only does it give us the only 
reliable and authentic account of the creation of this 
world, but it also reveals God's order in the work 
of the new creation. In Genesis 1:1 we have the 
original or primitive creation — "in the beginning" 
From the next verse we infer that some dreadful 
calamity followed. The handiwork of God was 
marred, "the earth became (not "was") without 
form and void" — a desolate waste and empty ruin. 
The earth was submerged. A scene of dreariness 
and death is introduced — "and darkness was upon 
the face of the deep." Not only was this the history 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 69 

of the earth, but it was also the history of man. In 
the beginning he was created by God — created in the 
image and likeness of his Maker. But a terrible 
calamity followed. An enemy appeared on the 
scene. The heart of the creature was seduced, unbe- 
lief and disobedience being the consequence. Man 
fell, and awful was his fall. God's image was broken : 
human nature was ruined by sin: desolation and 
death took the place of God's likeness and life. In 
consequence of his sin, man's mind was blinded 
and darkness rested upon the face of his under- 
standing. 

Next, we read in Genesis 1, of the work of re- 
construction. The order followed is profoundly sig- 
nificant — "The Spirit of God moved upon the face 
of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: 
and there was light" (vs. 3, 4) . The parallel holds 
good in regeneration. In the work of the new birth 
which is performed within the darkened and spirit- 
ually dead sinner, the Spirit of God is the prime 
mover, convicting the soul of its lost and ruined 
condition and revealing the need of the appointed 
Saviour. The instrument that He employs is the 
written Word, the Word of God, and in every gen- 
uine conversion God says, "Let there be light," and 
there is light. "For God, who commanded the light to 
shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to 
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God 
in the face of Jesus Christ" (II Cor. 4:6). The par- 
allel might be followed much further, but sufficient 
has been said to show that beneath the actual his- 
tory of Genesis 1 may be discerned by the anointed 
eye the spiritual history of the believer's new crea- 
tion, and as such it bears the stamp of its Divine 



70 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

Author and evidences the fact that the opening chap- 
ter of the Bible is no mere human compilation. 

In the coats of skin with which the Lord God 
clothed our first parents we have an incident that is 
full of spiritual instruction and which could never 
have been invented by man. To obtain these skins 
life had to be taken, blood had to be shed, the inno- 
cent (animals) must die in the place of Adam and 
Eve who were guilty, so as to provide a covering for 
them. Thus, the Gospel truths of redemption by 
blood-shedding and salvation thro' a substitutionary 
sacrifice, were preached in Eden. Be it noted that 
man did not have to provide a covering for himself 
any more than the "prodigal son" did, nor were they 
asked to clothe themselves any more than was he: 
in the one case we read, "The Lord God made coats 
of skins and clothed them" (Gen. 3:21), and in the 
other the command was, "Bring forth the best robe, 
and put it on him" (Luke 15 :22) , and both speak of 
"the robe of righteousness" (Is. 61:10) which is 
furnished in Christ. 

In the offerings which Cain and Abel presented to 
the Lord, and in the response which they met with, 
we discover a foreshadowing of New Testament 
truths. Abel brought of the firstlings of the flock 
with their fat. He recognized that he was alienated 
from God and could not draw nigh to Him without 
a suitable offering. He saw that his own life was for- 
feited thro' sin, that justice clamored for his death, 
and that his only hope lay in another (a lamb) 
dying in his stead. By faith Abel presented his 
bloody offering to God and it was accepted. On 
the other hand, Cain refused to take the place of a 
lost sinner before God. He refused to acknowledge 
that death was his due. He refused to place his con- 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 71 

fidence in a sacrificial sustitute. He relied upon his 
own efforts. He brought as an offering to God the 
fruits of the ground — the product of his own labors 
and in consequence, his offering was rejected. Thus, 
at the commencement of human history we have 
shown forth the fact that salvation is by grace thro 7 
faith and altogether apart from works (Eph. 2: 
8,9). 

In the great Deluge and the ark in which Noah 
and his house found shelter, we have a typification 
of great spiritual verities. From them we learn that 
God takes cognizance of the doings of His creatures ; 
that He is holy and sin is abhorrent to Him; that 
His righteousness requires Him to punish sin and 
destroy sinners. Yet, here also we learn that in judg- 
ment God remembers mercy, that He has no pleasure 
in the death of the wicked ; that His grace provides a 
refuge if only His sinful creatures will avail them- 
selves of His provision. Yet only in one place can 
deliverance from the Divine wrath be found. In the 
ark alone is safety and security. And, in like man- 
ner, to-day, there is only one Saviour for sinners, 
and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, "Neither is there 
salvation in any other : for there is none other name 
under heaven given among men, wherebv we must 
be saved" (Acts 4:12). 

In the deliverance of Israel from Egypt and their 
wilderness journey we see portrayed the history of 
God's people in the present dispensation. We, too, 
were living in a world "without God and without 
hope." We, too, were in bondage to the cruel task- 
masters of sin and Satan. We, too, were in imminent 
danger of falling beneath the sword of the avenging 
Angel of Justice. But, for us, too, a way of escape 
was provided. For us, too, a Lamb was slain. Unto 



72 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

us, too, was given the precious promise, "When I see 
the blood I will pass over you" (Exod. 12:13). And, 
we, too w r ere redeemed by Almighty power and were 
"delivered from the power of darkness and translat- 
ed into the kingdom of God's dear Son" (Col. 1 :13) . 
After our exodus from Egypt there lies before us a 
pilgrim journey thro' a barren and hostile wilder- 
ness as we journey toward the Promised Land. We 
have to pass thro' a strange country and meet with 
enemy forces, that we are unable to overcome in 
our own strength. For these tasks our own resourc- 
es — the things w T e brought with us out of Egypt — 
are altogether inadequate, and thus we, too, are cast 
upon the sufficiency of Israel's God. And blessed be 
His name, ample provision is made for us and grace 
is furnished for every need. For us there is heav- 
enly manna in the exceeding great and precious 
promises of God. For us there comes water out of 
the Smitten Rock in the person of the Holy Spirit 
(John 7:38,39) who refreshes our souls by taking 
of the things of Christ and showing them unto us, 
and who strengthens us with might in the inner 
man. For us too, there is a pillar of cloud and fire 
to guide us by day and by night in the Holy Scrip- 
tures which are a lamp unto our feet and a light un- 
to our path. For us, too, there is One to counsel and 
direct us, to intercede for us and help us overcome 
our Amalekites in the Captain of our salvation w T ho 
has said, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the 
end." And, at the close of our pilgrimage we shall 
enter a fairer land than that which flowed with milk 
and honey for we have been begotten "to an inher- 
itance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth 
not away, reserved in heaven" for us. 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 73 

Let the careful and impartial reader weigh thor- 
oughly what has been said above, and surely it is evi- 
dent that the numerous resemblances between the 
history of Israel and the spiritual history of God's 
children in this dispensation cannot be so many co- 
incidences, and can only be accounted for on the 
ground that the writings of Moses were inspired by 
the Living God. 

The history of Israel in Canaan as the professed 
people of God corresponds with the history of the 
professing church in the New Testament dispensa- 
tion. After Moses, the one who led Israel out from 
their Egyptian bondage, came Joshua who led Is- 
rael in their conquest of Canaan. So after our Lord 
left this earth, He sent the Holy Spirit who through 
the Apostles caused the Jericho's and Ai's of Pagan- 
ism to be overthrown and the greater part of the 
world to be evangelized. But after their occupancy 
of Canaan Israel's history was a sad one, being char- 
acterized by spiritual declension and departure from 
God. So it was with the professing church. Very 
quickly after the death of the Apostles heresy cor- 
rupted the Christian profession, and just as Israel of 
old grew tired of a theocracy and demanded a hu- 
man head and king, like the nations which sur- 
rounded them, so the professing church became 
dissatisfied with the New Testament form of church 
government and submitted to the domination of a 
pope. And just as Israel's kings became more and 
more corrupt until God would bear with them no 
longer and sold His people into captivity, so after 
the setting up of the Papal See there followed the 
long period of the Dark Ages when Europe was sub- 
jected to a spiritual bondage and when the Word of 
God was bound in chains. Then, just as God raised 



74 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

up Ezra and Nehemiah to recover the living oracles 
and to lead out of their captivity a remnant of His 
people, so in the sixteenth century, A. D., God raised 
up Luther and his honored contemporaries to bring 
about the great Reformation of Protestantism. Final- 
ly ; just as after the days of Ezra and Nehemiah the 
Jews in Palestine witnessed a marked spiritual de- 
clension, ultimately lapsing into the ritualism of the 
Pharisees and the rationalism of the Sadducees, 
from which God's elect were delivered only by the 
appearing of His own Son, so has history repeated 
itself. Since the Reformation and the last of the 
Puritans, Christendom has moved swiftly in the di- 
rection of the predicted apostasy, and to-day we have 
reproduced the ancient Phariseeism in the rapid 
spread of Roman Catholicism, and the ancient Sad- 
duceeism in the far-reaching effects of the infidelistic 
Higher Criticism ; and as it was before, so it will 
be again — God's elect will be delivered only by the 
reappearing of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

Thus we see how wonderfully and accurately the 
Old Testament history runs parallel with and antici- 
pated the history of the professing church in the 
New Testament dispensation. It has been truly said 
that "Coming events cast their shadows before 
them," and who but He who knows the end from 
the beginning and who upholds all things by the 
word of His power, could have caused the shadows 
of the Old Testament to have taken the shape they 
did, and thus give a true and comprehensive para- 
bolic setting forth of that which has taken place 
thousands of years later ! 

But not only do the broad outlines of Old Testa- 
ment history possess a typical meaning, everything 
in the Old Testament Scriptures has a spiritual val- 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 75 

ue. Every battle fought by the Israelites, every 
change in the administration of their government, 
every detail in their elaborate ceremonialism, and 
every personal biography narrated in the Bible, is 
designed for our instruction and edification. The 
Bible contains nothing that is superfluous. From 
beginning to end the Scriptures testify of Christ. 
Inanimate objects like the ark, which tells of secur- 
ity in Christ from the storms of Divine wrath; like 
the manna, which speaks of Him as the Bread of 
Life: like the Brazen Serpent uplifted on the pole, 
which typified Christ being "made a curse for us; 7 ' 
like the Tabernacle, which presents Him as the 
meeting-place of God and men — all foreshadowed 
the Redeemer. Living creatures like the Passover 
lamb, the sacrificial bullocks, goats and rams, all 
pointed forward in general and in detail to the great 
Sacrifice for sins. Institutions like the Passover, 
which prefigured His death; like the waving of the 
First-fruits, which forecast His resurrection ; like the 
Feast of Pentecost with its two loaves baken with 
leaven, telling of the uniting into one Body of the 
Jew and the Gentile; like the Burnt, the Meal and 
the Peace "sweet savor" offerings, which proclaimed 
the excellency of Christ's person in the esteem of 
God — all emblemized our blessed Saviour. And, 
many of the leading personages of Old Testament 
biography gave a remarkable delineation of our 
Lord's character and earthly ministry. 

Abel was a type of Christ. His name signifies 
vanity and emptiness which foreshadowed the Lord 
Jesus who "made Himself of no reputation/' literal- 
ly "emptied Himself (Phil. 2:7), when He as- 
sumed the nature of man who is "like unto vanity" 
(Ps. 72:9). By calling, Abel was a shepherd, and it 



76 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

was in his shepherd character he brought an offering 
to God, namely, the firstlings of his flock — speaking 
of the Good Shepherd who offered Himself to God. 
The offering which Abel brought to God is termed 
an "excellent" one (Heb. 11:4) and as such it point- 
ed forward to the precious blood of Christ, the val- 
ue of which cannot be estimated in silver and gold. 
Abel's offering was accepted by God, God "testify- 
ing" His approval of it; and, in like manner, God 
publicly witnessed to His acceptance of Christ's sac- 
rifice when He raised Him from the dead (Acts 2: 
32). Abel's offering still speaks to God — "by it he 
being dead, yet speaketh;" so, too, Christ's offering 
"speaks" to God (Heb. 12:24). Though guilty of no 
offense, Abel was hated by his brother and cruelly 
slain at his hand, foreshadowing the treatment 
which the Lord Jesus received at the hands of the 
Jews — His brethren according to the flesh. 

Isaac was a type of Christ. He was the child of 
promise. His nativity was announced by an angel. 
He was supernaturally begotten. He was born at an 
appointed time. He was named by God (Gen. 17: 
19). He was the "seed" to whom the promises were 
made and thro 7 whom they were secured. He became 
obedient unto death. He carried on his own shoul- 
der the wood on which he was to be offered. He was 
securely fastened to the altar. He was presented as 
a sacrifice to God. He was offered on Mount Moriah 
— the same on which, two thousand years later, Je- 
sus Christ was offered. And, it was on the "third 
day" that Abraham received him back "in a fig- 
ure" from the dead (Heb. 11:19). 

Joseph is a type of Christ. He was Jacob's well- 
beloved son. He readily responded to his father's 
will when asked to go on a mission to his brethren. 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 77 

While seeking his brethren he became a "wanderer 
in the field" (Gen. 37:15)— the "field" figuring the 
world (see Matt. 13:38). He found his brethren in 
Dothan which signifies the law — so the Lord Jesus 
found His brethren under the bondage of the law. 
His brethren mocked and refused to receive him. 
His brethren took counsel together against him that 
they might put him to death. Judah (Judas is the 
Greek form of the same word) advised his brethren 
to sell Joseph to the Ishmaelites. After he had been 
rejected by his brethren, Joseph was taken down in- 
to Egypt in order that he might become a saviour 
to the world. While in Egypt, Joseph was tempted, 
but without any compromise he put from him the 
evil solicitation. He was falsely accused and thro' 
no fault of his own was cast into prison. There he 
was the interpreter of dreams — the one who threw 
light on what was mysterious. In prison he became 
the savor of life to the butler, and the savor of death 
to the baker. After a period of humiliation and 
shame, he was exalted to the throne of Egypt. From 
that throne he administered bread to a hungering 
and perishing humanity. Subsequently Joseph be- 
came known to his brethren, and in fulfillment of 
what he had previously announced to them, they 
bowed down before him and ow r ned his sovereignty. 

Moses was a type of Christ. Moses became the 
adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter — so that legally 
he had a mother but no father, thus typifying our 
Lord's miraculous birth of a virgin. During infan- 
cy his life was endangered by the evil designs of the 
civic ruler. Like Christ's, his early life was spent in 
Egypt. Later, he renounced the position of royalty, 
refusing to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter ; 
and he who was rich, for the sake of his people, be- 



78 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

came poor. Before he commenced his life's work, a 
long period was spent in Midian in obscurity. Here 
he received a call and commission from God to go to 
deliver his brethren out of their terrible bondage. The 
credentials of his mission were seen in the miracles 
which he performed. Though despised and rejected 
by the rulers in Egypt, he, nevertheless, succeeded 
in delivering his own people. Subsequently, he be- 
came the leader and head of all Israel. In char- 
acter he was the meekest man in all the earth. In 
all God's house he was faithful as a servant. In the 
wilderness he sent twelve men to spy out Canaan, 
as our Lord sent out the twelve Apostles to preach 
the Gospel. He fasted for forty days. On the 
mount he w T as transfigured so that the skin of his 
face shone. He acted as God's prophet to the peo- 
ple, and as the people's intercessor before God. He 
was the only man mentioned in the Old Testament 
that was prophet, priest and king. He was the giv- 
er of a Law, the builder of a Tabernacle, and the or- 
ganizer of a Priesthood. His last act was to "bless" 
the people (Deut. 33:29), as our Lord's last act was 
to "bless" His disciples (Luke 24:50). 

Samson was a type of Christ — see the Book of 
Judges. An angel announced his birth (13:3). 
From birth he was a Nazarite (13:5) — separated to 
God. Before he was born it was promised that he 
should be a saviour to Israel (13:5). He was treat- 
ed unkindly by his own nation (15:11-13). He was 
delivered up to the Gentiles by his own countrymen 
(15 :12) . He was mocked and cruelly treated by the 
Gentiles (16:19-21, 25) yet he was a mighty deliv- 
erer of Israel. His miracles were performed under 
the power of the Holy Spirit (14:19). He accom- 
plished more in his death than he did in his life 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 79 

(16 :30) . He was imprisoned in the enemy's strong- 
hold; the gates were barred, and a watch was set', 
yet, rising up at midnight, in the early hours of the 
morning — *'a great while before day" — he burst the 
bars, broke open the gate, and issued forth trium- 
phant — a remarkable type of our Lord's resurrection. 
He occupied the position of "judge," as our Lord 
will in the last great day. 

David was a type of Christ. He was born in 
Bethlehem. He is described as "of a beautiful 
countenance and goodly to look upon." His name 
means "the beloved." By occupation he was a 
shepherd. During his shepherd life he entered into 
conflict with wild beasts. He slew Goliath — the op- 
poser of God's people and a type of Satan. From the 
obscurity of shepherdhood he was exalted to Israel's 
throne. He was anointed as king before he was 
coronated. He was pre-eminently a man of prayer 
(see the Psalms) and is the only one in Scripture 
termed "The man after God's own heart." He was 
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, suffer- 
ing chiefly from those of his own household. Re- 
peated attempts were made upon his life by Israel's 
ruler. When his enemy (Saul) was in his power 
he refused to slay him, instead, he dealt with him in 
mercy and grace. He delivered Israel from all their 
enemies and vanquished all their foes. 

Solomon was a type of Christ. He was Israel's 
king. His name signifies "Peaceable," and he fore- 
shadows the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus when 
He shall rule as Prince of Peace. He was chosen 
and ordained of God before he was born (I Chron. 
22:9). He was anointed before he was crowned. 
He rode upon another's mule, not as a w r arrior, but 
as the king of peace in lowly guise (I Kings 1:33). 



80 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

Gentiles took part in the coronation of Solomon 
(I Kings 1:38) typifying the universal homage 
which Christ shall receive during the millennium. 
The Cherethites and Pelethites were soldiers, so that 
Solomon was followed by an army at the time of his 
coronation (I Kings 1:33; cp. Rev. 19:11). Solo- 
mon began his reign by showing mercy to and yet 
demanding righteousness from Adonijah (I Kings 
1) — such will be the leading characteristics of 
Christ's millennial government. Solomon w r as the 
builder of Israel's Temple (cp. Acts 15:16). At the 
dedication of the Temple, Solomon was the one 
who offered sacrifices unto the Lord: thus the king 
fulfilled the office of priest (I Kings 8:63), which 
typifies the Lord Jesus who "shall be a Priest upon 
His throne" (Zech. 6:13). Solomon's ."fame" went 
abroad far and wide and "all the earth sought to 
Solomon" (I Kings 10:24). The queen of Sheba, 
representing the Gentiles, came up to Jerusalem to 
pay him homage (I Kings 10) as all the nations will- 
to Christ during the millennium (see Zech. 14:16). 
All Israel obeyed him (IChron. 29:22). During his 
reign, for the first and last time till our Lord's re- 
turn, Israel's land enjoyed rest and peace. The glory 
and magnificence of Solomon's reign has never been 
equalled before or since — "And the Lord magnified 
Solomon exceedingly in the sight of all Israel, and 
bestowed upon him such royal majesty as had not 
been on any king before him in Israel" (I Chron. 
29:25). 

In the above types we have not sought to be ex- 
haustive but suggestive by singling out only the 
leading lines in each typical picture. There are 
many other Old Testament characters who were 
types of Christ which we cannot now consider at 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 81 

length: — Adam typified His Headship; Enoch His 
Ascension ; Noah as the provider of a Refuge ; Jacob 
as the one who served for a Wife ; Aaron as the great 
High Priest ; Joshua as the Captain of our salvation ; 
Samuel as the Faithful Prophet; Elijah as the Mir- 
acle-worker; Jeremiah as the despised and rejected 
Servant of God; Daniel as the Faithful Witness for 
God ; Jonah as the One raised from the dead on the 
third day. 

In closing this chapter let us apply the argu- 
ment. Of the many typical persons in the Old 
Testament who prefigure the Lord Jesus Christ, the 
striking, the accurate, and the manifold lights, in 
which each exhibits Him is truly remarkable. No 
two of them represent Him from exactly the same 
viewpoint. Each one contributes a line or two to 
the picture, but all are needed to give a complete 
delineation. That an authentic history should sup- 
ply a series of personages in different ages, whose 
characters, offices, and histories, should exactly cor- 
respond with those of Another who did not appear 
upon earth until centuries later, can only be ac- 
counted for on the supposition of Divine appoint- 
ment. When we consider the utter dissimilarity of 
these typical persons to one another; when we note 
that they had little or nothing in common with each 
other; when we remember that each of them repre- 
sents some peculiar feature in a composite Antitype ; 
we discover that we have a literary phenomenon 
which is truly remarkable. Abel, Isaac, Joseph, Mos- 
es, Samson, David, Solomon (and all the others) 
are each deficient when viewed separately ; but when 
looked at in conjunction they form an harmonious 
whole, and give us a complete representation of our 
Lord's miraculous birth. His peerless character, His 



82 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

life's mission, His sacrificial death, His triumphant 
resurrection, His ascension to heaven, and His mil- 
lennial reign. Who could have invented such char- 
acters? How remarkable that the earliest history 
in the world, extending from the creation and reach- 
ing to the last of the prophets — written by various 
hands thro' a period of fifteen centuries — should 
from start to finish concentrate in a single point, 
and that point the person and work of the blessed 
Redeemer! Verily, such a Book must have been 
written by God — no other conclusion is possible. 
Beneath the historical we discern the spiritual: be- 
hind the incidental we behold the typical: under- 
neath the human biographies we see the form of 
Christ, and in these things we discover on every 
page of the Old Testament the " watermark' ' of 
heaven. 



CHAPTER SEVEN 

THE WONDERFUL UNITY OF THE BIBLE 
ATTESTS ITS DIVINE AUTHORSHIP 




THE WONDERFUL UNITY OF THE BIBLE 
ATTESTS ITS DIVINE AUTHORSHIP 

| HE manner in which the Bible has been 
produced argues against its unity. The Bi- 
ble was penned on two continents, written 
in three languages, and its composition and compila- 
tion extended through the slow progress of sixteen 
centuries. The various parts of the Bible were writ- 
ten at different times and under the most varying 
circumstances. Parts of it were written in tents, 
deserts, cities, palaces and dungeons; in times of 
imminent danger and in seasons of ecstatic joy. 
Among its writers were judges, kings, priests, proph- 
ets, patriarchs, prime-ministers, herdsmen, scribes, 
soldiers, physicians and fishermen. Yet despite these 
varying circumstances, conditions and workmen-, the 
Bible is one Book, behind its many parts there is an 
unmistakable organic unity. It contains one system 
of doctrine, one code of ethics, one plan of salvation 
and one rule of faith. 

Now if forty different men were selected to-day 
from such varying stations and callings of life as to 
include clerks, rulers, politicians, judges, clergy, doc- 
tors, farm-laborers and fishermen, and ea<sh was 
asked to contribute a chapter for some book on the- 
ology or church-government, w T hen their several 
contributions were collected and bound together; 
would there be any unity about them, could that 
book truly be said to be one book; or would not 
their different productions vary so much in liter- 
ary value, diction and matter as to be merely a heter- 



86 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

ogenous mass, a miscellaneous collection? Yet we 
do not find this to be the case in connection with 
God's Book. Although the Bible is a volume of 
sixty-six Books, written by forty different men, treat- 
ing of such a large variety of themes as to cover 
nearly the whole range of human inquiry, we find 
it is one Book, the Book (not the books), the Bible. 

Further; if we were to select specimens of litera- 
ture from the third, fifth, tenth, fifteenth and twen- 
tieth centuries of the Christian era and were to 
bind them together, what unity and harmony should 
we find in such a collection? Human writers reflect 
the spirit of their own day and generation and the 
compositions of men living amid widely differing 
influences and separated by centuries of time have 
little or nothing in common with each other. Yet 
although the earliest portions of the Sacred Canon 
date back to at least the fifteenth century, B. C, while 
the writings of John were not completed till the close 
of the first century, A. D., nevertheless, we find a 
perfect harmony throughout the Scriptures from 
the first verse in Genesis to the last verse in Revela- 
tion. The great ethical and spiritual lessons pre- 
sented in the Bible, by w T hoever taught, agree. 

The flaore one really studies the Bible the more 
one is convinced that behind the many human 
mouths there is One overruling, controlling Mind. 
Imagine forty persons of different nationalities, pos- 
sessing various degrees of musical culture visiting 
the organ of some cathedral and at long intervals of 
time, and without any collusion whatever, striking 
sixty-six different notes, which when combined yield- 
ed the theme of the grandest oratorio ever heard: 
would it not show that behind these forty different 
men there was one presiding mind, one great Tone- 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 87 

Master? As we listen to some great orchestra, with 
its immense variety of instruments playing their dif- 
ferent parts, but producing melody and harmony, 
we realize that at the back of these many musicians 
there is the personality and genius of the composer. 
And when we enter the halls of the Divine Academy 
and listen to the heavenly choirs singing the Song 
of Redemption, all in perfect accord and unison, we 
know that it is God Himself who has written the 
music and put this song into their mouths. 

We now submit two illustrations which demon- 
strate the unity of the Holy Scriptures. Certain 
grand conceptions run through the entire Bible like 
a cord on which are strung so many precious pearls. 
First and foremost among them is the Divine Plan 
of Redemption. Just as the scarlet thread runs 
through all the cordage of the British Navy, so a 
crimson aura surrounds every page of God's Word. 

In the Scriptures the Plan of Redemption is cen- 
tral and fundamental. In Genesis we have recorded 
the Creation and Fall of man to show that he has the 
capacity for and is in need of redemption. Next we 
find the Promise of the Redeemer, for man requires 
to have before him the hope and expectation of a 
Saviour. Then follows an elaborate system of sac- 
rifices and offerings and these represent pictorially 
the nature of redemption and the condition under 
which salvation is realized. At the commencement 
of the New Testament we have the four Gospels and 
they set forth the Basis of Redemption, namely, the 
Incarnation, Life, Death, Resurrection and Ascension 
of the Redeemer. Next comes the Book of the Acts 
which illustrates again and again the Power of Re- 
demption, showing that it is adequate to work its 
great results in the salvation of both Jew and Gen- 



88 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

tile. Finally, in the Revelation, we are shown the 
ultimate triumphs of redemption, the Goal of Salva- 
tion—the redeemed dwelling with God in perfect 
union and communion. Thus we see that though a 
large number of human media were employed in the 
writing of the Bible, yet their productions are not 
independent of each other, but are complementary 
and supplementary parts of one great whole; that 
one sublime truth is common to them all, namely, 
man's need of redemption and God's provision of a 
Redeemer. And the only explanation of this fact 
is, that "All Scripture is given by inspiration of 
God." 

Secondly; among all the many personalities pre- 
sented in the Bible, we find that one stands out above 
all others, not merely prominent but pre-eminent. 
Just as in the scene unveiled in the fifth chapter of 
the Revelation we find the Lamb in the center of the 
heavenly throngs, so we find that in the Scriptures 
also, the Lord Jesus Christ is accorded the place 
which alone befits His unique Person. Considered 
from one standpoint the Scriptures are really the 
biography of the Son of God. 

In the Old Testament we have the Promise of our 
Lord's Incarnation and Mediatorial work. In the 
Gospels we have the Proclamation of His Mission and 
the Proofs of His Messianic claims and authority. In 
the Acts we have a demonstration of His saving Pow- 
er and the execution of His missionary Program. 
In the Epistles we find an exposition and amplifica- 
tion of His Precepts for the education of His People. 
While in the Apocalypse we behold the unveiling or 
Presentation of His Person and the Preparation of 
the earth for His Presence. The Bible is therefore 
seen to be peculiarly the Book of Jesus Christ. Christ 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 89 

not only testified to the Scriptures but each section 
of the Scriptures testify of Him. Every page of the 
Holy Book has stamped upon it His photograph and 
every chapter bears His autograph. He is its one 
great theme, and the only explanation of this fact is 
that, the Holy Spirit superintended the work of 
each and every writer of the Scriptures. 

The unity of the Scriptures is further to be seen 
in the fact that they are entirely free from any real 
contradictions. Though different writers often de- 
scribed the same incidents — as for example the four 
evangelists recording the facts relating to our Lord's 
ministry and redemptive work — and though there is 
considerable variety in the narrations of these, yet, 
there are no real discrepancies. The harmony ex- 
isting between them does not appear on the surface, 
but, often, is only discovered by protracted study, 
though it is there nevertheless. Moreover, there is per- 
fect agreement of doctrine between all the writers in 
the Bible. The teaching of the prophets and the 
teaching of the Apostles on the great truths of God's 
righteousness, the demands of His holiness, the ut- 
ter ruin of man, the exceeding sinfulness of sin, and 
the way of salvation, is entirely harmonious. This 
might appear a thing easily effected. But those who 
are acquainted with human nature, and have read 
widely the writings of men, will acknowledge that 
nothing but the inspiration of the writers can ex- 
plain this fact. Nowhere can we find two uninspired 
writers, however similar "they may have been in their 
religious sentiments, who agree in all points of doc- 
trine. Nay, entire consistency of sentiment is not 
to be found even in the writings of the same author 
at different periods. In his later years Spurgeon's 
statement of some doctrines was much more modi- 



90 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

fied than the utterances of his earlier days. Increasing 
knowledge causes men to change their views upon 
many subjects. But among the writers of Scrip- 
ture there is the most perfect harmony, because they 
obtained their knowledge of truth and duty not by 
the efforts of study, but from inspiration by the Holy 
Spirit of God. 

When therefore we find that in the productions 
of forty different men there is perfect accord and 
concord, unison and unity, harmony in all their 
teachings, and the same conceptions pervading all 
their writings, the conclusion is irresistible that be- 
hind these men, superintending their work, control- 
ling their minds, and guiding their hands, there was 
the master-mind of God Himself. Does not the unity 
of the Bible illustrate the Divine Inspiration of the 
Bible and demonstrate the truth of its own assertion 
that "God (who) at sundry times and in divers man- 
ners spake in time past unto the fathers by the 
prophets" (Heb. 1:1)? 



CHAPTER EIGHT 

THE MARVELOUS INFLUENCE OF THE 
BIBLE DECLARES ITS SUPER- 
HUMAN CHARACTER 



THE MARVELOUS INFLUENCE OF THE 
BIBLE DECLARES ITS SUPER- 
HUMAN CHARACTER 

J^-i^HE influence of the Bible is world-wide. Its 
Kjj} mighty power has affected every department 

^s^ of human activity. The contents of the 
Scriptures have supplied themes for the greatest 
poets, artists and musicians which the world has yet 
produced, and have been the mightiest factor of all 
in shaping the moral progress of the race. Let us 
consider a few examples of the Bible's influence as 
displayed in the various realms of human enter- 
prise. 

Take away such sublime oratorios as "Elijah" and 
"The Messiah," and you have taken out of the realm 
of music something which can never be duplicated ; 
destroy the countless hymns which have drawn 
their inspiration from the Scriptures and you have 
left us little else worth singing. Eliminate from the 
compositions of Tennyson, Wordsworth and Carlisle 
every reference to the moral and spiritual truths 
taught in God's Word and you have stripped them 
of their beauty and robbed them of their fragrance. 
Take down from off the walls of our best Art Gal- 
leries those pictures which portray scenes and inci- 
dents in the history of Israel and the life of our Lord 
and you have removed the richest gems from the 
crown of human genius. Remove from our statute- 
books every law which is founded upon the ethical 
conceptions of the Bible and you have annihilated 
the greatest factor in modern civilization. Rob our 



94 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

libraries of every book which is devoted to the work 
of elaborating and disseminating the precepts and 
concepts of Holy Writ and you have taken from us 
that which cannot be valued in dollars and cents. 

The Bible has done more for the emancipation and 
civilization of the heathen than all the forces which 
the human arm can wield, put together. Some one 
has said, "Draw a line around the nations which have 
the Bible and you will then have divided between 
barbarism and civilization, between thrift and pover- 
ty, between selfishness and charity, between oppres- 
sion and freedom, between life and the shadow of 
death." Even Darwin had to concede the miracu- 
lous element in the triumphs of the missionaries of 
the cross. 

Here are two or three men who land on a savage 
island. Its inhabitants possess no literature and 
have no written language. They regard the white 
man as their enemy and have no desire to be shown 
"the error of their ways." They are cannibals by in- 
stinct and little better than the brute beasts in their 
habits of life. The missionaries who have entered 
their midst have no money with which to buy their 
friendship, no army to compel their obedience and 
no merchandise to stir their avarice. Their only 
weapon is "the Sword of the Spirit,' 7 their only cap- 
ital "the unsearchable riches of Christ," their only 
offer the invitation of the Gospel. Yet somehow 
they succeed, and without the shedding of any 
blood gain the victory. In a few short years naked 
savagery is changed to the garb of civilization, lust 
is transformed into purity, cruelty is now kind- 
ness, avarice has become unselfishness, and where be- 
fore vindictiveness existed there is now to be seen 
meekness and the spirit of loving self-sacrifice. And 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 95 

this has been accomplished by the Bible ! This mir- 
acle is still being repeated in every part of the earth! 
What other book, or library of books, could work 
such a result? Is it not evident to all that the Book 
which does exert such a unique and unrivaled in- 
fluence must be vitalized by the life of God Him- 
self? 

This wonderful characteristic, namely, the unique 
influence of the Bible, is rendered the more re- 
markable when we take into account the antiquity 
of the Scriptures! The last Books which were add- 
ed to the Sacred Canon are now more than eighteen 
hundred years old, yet the workings of the Bible 
are as mighty in their effects to-day as they were 
in the first century of the Christian era. 

The power of man's books soon wane and disap- 
pear. With but few exceptions the productions of 
the human intellect enjoy a very brief existence. As 
a general rule the writings of man within fifty years 
of their first public appearance lie untouched on the 
top shelves of our libraries. Man's writings are like 
himself — dying creatures. Man comes on to the 
stage of this world, plays his part in the drama of 
life, influences the audience while he is acting, but is 
forgotten as soon as the curtain falls upon his brief 
career; so it is with his writings. While they are 
fresh and new they amuse, interest or instruct as the 
case may be, and then die a natural death. Even the 
few exceptions to this rule only exert a very limited 
influence, their power is circumscribed ; they are un- 
read by the great majority, yea, are unknown to the 
largest portion of our race. But how different with 
God's Book! The written Word, like the Living 
Word, is "The same yesterday, and to day, and for 
ever," and unlike any other book it has made its 



96 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

way into all countries and speaks with equal clear- 
ness, directness and force to all men in their mother 
tongue. The Bible never becomes antiquated, its 
vitality never diminishes and its influence is more 
irresistible and universal to-day than it was two thou- 
sand years ago. Such facts as these declare with no 
uncertain voice that the Bible is endued with the 
same Divine life and energy as its Author, for in no 
other way can we account for its marvelous influ- 
ence through the centuries and its mighty power up- 
on the world. 



CHAPTER NINE 

THE MIRACULOUS POWER OF THE BIBLE 

SHOWS FORTH THAT ITS INSPIRER 

IS THE ALMIGHTY 



THE MIRACULOUS POWER OF THE BIBLE 

SHOWS FORTH THAT ITS INSPIRER 

IS THE ALMIGHTY 

I. The Power of God's Word to Convict Men of 

Sin. 

fN Hebrews 4:12 we have a Scripture which 
draws attention to this peculiar characteristic 

w^ of the Biblo— "For the Word of God is quick, 
and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged 
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul 
and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a 
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." 
The writings of men may sometimes stir the emo- 
tions, search the conscience, and influence the hu- 
man will, but in a manner and degree possessed 
by no other book the Bible convicts men of their 
guilt and lost estate. The Word of God is the Di- 
vine mirror, for in it man reads the secrets of his 
own guilty soul and sees the vileness of his own 
evil nature. In a way absolutely peculiar to them- 
selves, the Scriptures discern the thoughts and in- 
tents of the heart and reveal to men the fact that 
they are lost sinners and in the presence of a Holy 
God. 

Some thirty years ago there resided in one of the 
temples of Thibet a Buddhist priest who had con- 
versed with no Christian missionary, had heard noth- 
ing about the cross of Christ, and had never seen a 
copy of the Word of God. One day while searching 
for something in the temple, he came across a trans- 
lation of Matthew's Gospel, which years before had 



100 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

been left there by a native who had received it from 
some traveling missionary. His curiosity aroused, 
the Buddhist priest commenced to read it, but when 
he reached the eighth verse in the fifth chapter he 
paused and pondered over it: "Blessed are the pure 
in heart: for they shall see God." Although he knew 
nothing about the righteousness of his Maker, al- 
though he was quite ignorant concerning the de- 
mands of God's holiness, yet, he was there and then 
convicted of his sins, and a work of Divine grace 
commenced in his soul. Month after month went by 
and each day he said to himself, "I shall never see 
God, for I am impure in heart." Slowly but surely 
the work of the Holy Spirit deepened within him, 
until he saw himself as a lost sinner; vile, guilty, 
and undone. 

After continuing for more than a year in this mis- 
erable condition the priest one day heard that a 
"foreign devil" was visiting a town nearby and sell- 
ing books which spoke about God. The same night 
the Buddhist priest fled from the temple and jour- 
neyed to the town where the missionary was resid- 
ing. On reaching his destination he sought out the 
missionary and at once said to him, "Is it true that 
only those who are pure in heart will see God?" 
"Yes," replied the missionary, "but the same Book 
which tells you that, also tells you how you may ob- 
tain a pure heart," and then he talked to him about 
our Lord's atoning work and how that "the blood of 
Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 
Quickly the light of God flooded the soul of the 
Buddhist priest and he found the peace which "pass- 
eth all understanding." Now what other book in 
the world outside of the Bible, contains a sentence 
or even a chapter which, without the aid of any hu- 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 101 

man commentator, is capable of convincing and con- 
victing a heathen that he is a lost sinner? Does not 
the fact of the miraculous power of the Bible, which 
has been illustrated by thousands of fully authenti- 
cated cases similar to the above, declare that the 
Scriptures are the inspired Word of God, vested with 
the same might as their Omnipotent Author? 

II. The Power of God's Word to Deliver Men 
from Sin. 

A single incident which was brought before the 
notice of the writer must suffice to illustrate the 
above mentioned truth. 

Some forty years ago a Christian gentleman stood 
upon the quay of the Liverpool docks distributing 
tracts to the sailors. In the course of his work he 
handed one to a man who was just embarking on a 
voyage to China, and with an oath the sailor took it, 
crumpled it up and thrust it into his pocket. Some 
three weeks after, this sailor was down in his cabin 
and needing a "spell" with which to light his pipe 
felt in his pocket for the necessary paper and 
drew out the little tract which he had received in 
Liverpool. On recognizing it he uttered a terrible 
oath and tore the paper in pieces. One small frag- 
ment adhered to his tarry hand and glancing at it 
he saw these words, "Prepare to meet thy God." 
When relating the incident to the writer he said, "It 
was at that moment as though a sword had pierced my 
heart." "Prepare to meet thy God" rang again and 
again in his ears, and with a strickened conscience 
he was tormented about his lost condition. Present- 
ly he retired for the night, but sleep he could not. 
In desperation he got up and dressed and went above 
and paced the deck. Hour after hour he walked 



102 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

up and down, but try as he might he could not dis- 
miss from his mind the words, "Prepare to meet thy 
God." For years this man had been a helpless slave 
in the grip of strong drink and knowing his weak- 
ness he said : "How can I prepare to meet God, when 
I am so powerless to overcome my besetting sin?" 
Finally, he got down upon his knees and cried: "O 
God, have mercy on me, save me from my sins, de- 
liver me from the power of drink and help me pre- 
pare for the meeting with Thee." More than thirty- 
five years after, this converted sailor told the writer 
that from the night he had read that quotation from 
God's Word, had prayed that prayer, and had ac- 
cepted Christ as his Saviour from sin, he had never 
tasted a single drop of intoxicating liquor and had 
never once had a desire or craving for strong drink. 
How marvelous is the power of God's Word to de- 
liver men from sin! Truly, as Dr. Torrey has well 
said, "A Book which will lift men up to God must 
have come down from God." 

III. The Power of God's Word Over the Human 
Affections. 

In thousands of instances men and women have 
been stretched upon the "rack," torn limb from 
limb, thrown to the wild beasts, and have been 
burned at the stake rather than abandon the Bible 
and promise never again to read its sacred pages. For 
what other book would men and women suffer and 
die? 

More than two hundred years ago when a copy of 
the Bible was much more expensive than it is in 
these days, a peasant who lived in the County of 
Cork, Ireland, heard that a gentleman in his neigh- 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 103 

borhood had a copy of the New Testament in the 
Irish language. Accordingly he visited this man and 
asked to be allowed to see it, and after looking at it 
with great interest begged to be allowed to copy it. 
Knowing how poor the peasant was the gentleman 
asked him where he would get his paper and ink 
from? "I will buy them/' was the reply. "And 
where will you find a place to write?" "If your 
honor will allow me the use of your hall, I'll come 
after my day's w r ork is over and copy a little at a 
time in the evenings." The gentleman was so moved 
at this man's intense love for the Bible that he 
gave him the use of his hall and light and provided 
him with paper and ink as well. True to his pur- 
pose and promise, the peasant labored night after 
night until he had written out a complete copy of 
the New Testament. Afterwards a printed copy was 
given to him, and the written Testament is preserved 
by the British and Foreign Bible Society. Again, 
we ask, what other book in the world could obtain 
such a hold upon the affections and win such love 
and reverence, and produce such self-sacrificing toil? 



CHAPTER TEN 

THE COMPLETENESS OF THE BIBLE 
DEMONSTRATES ITS DIVINE PERFECTION 



THE COMPLETENESS OF THE BIBLE 
DEMONSTRATES ITS DIVINE PERFECTION 

G>^$ HE antiquity of the Scriptures argues against 
(53^) their completeness. The compilation of the 
ft ^-^ Bible was completed more than eighteen cen- 
turies ago, while the greater part of the world was 
yet uncivilized. Since John added the capstone to 
the Temple of God's Truth there have been many 
wonderful discoveries and inventions, yet there have 
been no additions whatever to the moral and spirit- 
ual truths contained in the Bible. To-day, we know 
no more about the origin of life, the nature of the 
soul, the problem of suffering or the future destiny 
of man than did those who had the Bible eighteen 
hundred years ago. Through the centuries of the 
Christian era, man has succeeded in learning many 
of the secrets of nature and has harnessed her forces 
to his service, but in the actual revelation of super- 
natural truth nothing new has been discovered. 
Human writers cannot supplement the Divine rec- 
ords for thev are complete, entire, "wanting noth- 
ing." 

The Bible needs no addendum. There is more 
than sufficient in God's Word to meet the temporal 
and spiritual needs of all mankind. Though written 
two thousand years ago, the Bible is still "up-to- 
date/ 7 and answers every vital question which con- 
cerns the soul of man in our day. The Book of 
Job was written three thousand years before Colum- 
bus discovered America, yet it is as fresh to the heart 
of man now as though it had only been published 



108 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

ten years ago. The majority of the Psalms were 
written two thousand five hundred years before 
President Wilson was born, yet in our day and gen- 
eration they are perfectly new and fresh to the 
human soul. Such facts as these can only be ex- 
plained on the hypothesis that the Eternal God is the 
Author of the Bible. 

The adaptation of the Scriptures is another illus- 
tration of their wonderful completeness. To young 
or old, feeble or vigorous, ignorant or cultured, joy- 
ful or sorrowful, perplexed or enlightened, Oriental- 
ist or Occidentalism saint or sinner, the Bible is a 
source of blessing, will minister to every need, and 
is able to supply every variety of want. And the 
Bible is the only Book in the world of which this 
can be predicated. The writings of Plato may be 
a source of interest and instruction to the philosophic 
mind, but they are unsuitable for placing in the 
hands of a child. Not so with the Bible : the young- 
est may profit from a perusal of the Sacred Page. The 
writings of Jerome or Twain may please, for an hour, 
the man of humor, but they will bring no balm to 
the sore heart and will speak no words of comfort 
and consolation to those passing through the waters 
of bereavement. How different with the Scriptures 
— never has a heavy heart turned in vain to God's 
Word for peace! The writings of Shakespeare, 
Goethe, and Schiller may be of profit to the Western 
mind, but they convey little of value to the East- 
erner. Not so with God's Word; it may be trans- 
lated into any language and will speak with equal 
clearness, directness and power to all men in their 
mother tongue. 

To quote Dr. Burrell: "In every heart, down be- 
low all other wants and aspirations, there is a pro- 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 109 

found longing to know the way of spiritual life. The 
world is crying, 'What shall I do to be saved ?' Of all 
books the Bible is the only one that answers that 
universal cry. There are other books which set forth 
morality with more or less correctness; but there is 
none other that suggests a blotting out of the record 
of the mislived past or an escape from the penalty of 
the broken law. There are other books that have 
poetry; but there is none that sings the song of sal- 
vation or gives a troubled soul the peace that floweth 
like a river. There are other books that have elo- 
quence ; but there is no other that enables us to be- 
hold God Himself with outstretched hands pleading 
with men to turn and live. There are other books 
that have science; but there is none other that can 
give the soul a definite assurance of the future life, 
so that it can say, 'I know whom I have believed, 
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which 
I have committed unto Him against that day.' " 

Though other books contain valuable truths, they 
also have an admixture of error ; other books contain 
part of the truth, the Bible alone contains all the 
truth. Nowhere in the writings of human genius 
can a single moral or spiritual truth be found, which 
is not contained in substance in the Bible. Examine 
the writings of the ancients; ransack the libraries of 
Egypt, Assyria, Persia, India, Greece, and Rome; 
search the contents of the Koran, the Zend-Avesta, 
or the Bagavad-Gita ; gather together the most exalt- 
ed spiritual thoughts and the sublimest moral concep- 
tions contained in them and you will find that each 
and all are duplicated in the Bible ! Dr. Torrey has 
said, "If every book but the Bible were destroyed 
not a single spiritual truth would be lost." In the 
small compass of God's Word there is stored more 



110 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

wisdom which will endure the test of eternity than 
the sum total of thinking done by man since his 
creation. Of all the books in the world, the Bible 
alone can truly be said to be complete, and this char- 
acteristic of the Scriptures is another of the many 
lines of demonstration which witnesses to the Divine 
inspiration of the Bible. 



CHAPTER ELEVEN 

THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF THE BIBLE 

IS A PROOF THAT ITS AUTHOR 

IS DIVINE 



THE INDESTRUCTIBILITY OF THE BIBLE 

IS A PROOF THAT ITS AUTHOR 

IS DIVINE 

C^^HE survival of the Bible through the ages is 
($) very difficult to explain if it is not in truth the 
%s~& Word of God. Books are like men — dying crea- 
tures. A very small percentage of books survive more 
than twenty years, a yet smaller percentage last a 
hundred years and only a very insignificant frac- 
tion represent those which have lived a thousand 
years. Amid the wreck and ruin of ancient litera- 
ture the Holy Scriptures stand out like the last sur- 
vivor of an otherwise extinct race, and the very fact 
of the Bible's continued existence is an indication 
that like its Author it is indestructible. 

When we bear in mind the fact that the Bible has 
been the special object of never ending persecution 
the wonder of the Bible's survival is changed into a 
miracle. Not only has the Bible been the most in- 
tensely loved Book in all the world, but it has also 
been the most bitterly hated. Not only has the Bible 
received more veneration and adoration than any 
other book, but it has also been the object of more 
persecution and opposition. For two thousand years 
man's hatred of the Bible has been persistent, de- 
termined, relentless and murderous. Every possi- 
ble effort has been made to undermine faith in the 
inspiration and authority of the Bible and innumer- 
able enterprises have been undertaken with the de- 
termination to consign it to oblivion. Imperial 



114 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

edicts have been issued to the effect that every known 
copy of the Bible should be destroyed, and when this 
measure failed to exterminate and annihilate God's 
Word then commands were given that every person 
found with a copy of the Scriptures in his possession 
should be put to death. The very fact that the Bible 
has been so singled out for such relentless persecu- 
tion causes us to wonder at such a unique phenom- 
enon. 

Although the Bible is the best Book in the world 
yet it has produced more enmity and opposition than 
has the combined contents of all our libraries. Why 
should this be? Clearly because the Scriptures con- 
vict men of their guilt and condemn them for their 
sins! Political and ecclesiastical powers have united 
in the attempt to put the Bible out of existence, yet 
their concentrated efforts have utterly failed. After 
all the persecution which has assailed the Bible, it is, 
humanly speaking, a wonder that there is any Bible 
left at all. Every engine of destruction which hu- 
man philosophy, science, force, and hatred could 
bring against a book has been brought against the 
Bible, yet it stands unshaken and unharmed to-day. 
When we remember that no army has defended the 
Bible and no king has ever ordered its enemies to be 
extirpated, our wonderment increases. At times 
nearly all the wise and great of the earth have been 
pitted together against the Bible, while only a few 
despised ones have honored and revered it. The 
cities of the ancients were lighted with bonfires made 
of Bibles, and for centuries only those in hiding dare 
read it How then, can we account for the survival 
of the Bible in the face of such bitter persecution? 
The only solution is to be found in the promise of 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 115 

God, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My 
words shall not pass aivay" 

The story of the Bible's persecution is an arresting 
one. During the first three centuries of the Christian 
era the Roman Emperors sought to destroy God's 
Word. One of them, named Diocletian, believed 
that he had succeeded. He had slain so many Chris- 
tians and destroyed so many Bibles, that when the 
lovers of the Bible remained quiet for a season and 
kept in hiding, he imagined that he had made an 
end of the Scriptures. So elated was he at this achieve- 
ment, he ordered a medal to be struck inscribed with 
the words, "The Christian religion is destroyed and 
the worship of the gods restored/ 7 One wonders what 
that emperor would think if he returned to this 
earth to-day, and found that more had been written 
about the Bible than about any other thousand 
books put together, and thai the Bible w T hich en- 
shrines the Christian faith is now translated into 
more than four hundred languages and is being sent 
out to every part of the earth ! 

Centuries after the persecution by the Roman Em- 
perors, when the Roman Catholic Church obtained 
command of the city of Rome, the Pope and his 
priests took up the old quarrel against the Bible. The 
Holy Scriptures w T ere taken away from the people, 
copies of the Bible w r ere forbidden to be purchased 
and all who were found with a copy of God's Word 
in their possession were tortured and killed. For 
centuries the Roman Catholic Church bitterly perse- 
cuted the Bible and it w r as not until the time of the 
Reformation at the close of the sixteenth century that 
the Word of God was again given to the masses in 
their own tongue. 



116 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

Even in our day the persecution of the Bible still 
continues, though the method of attack is changed. 
Much of our modern scholarship is engaged in the 
work of seeking to destroy faith in the Divine in- 
spiration and authority of the Bible. In many of 
our seminaries the rising generation of the clergy 
are taught that Genesis is a book of myths, that 
much of the teaching of the Pentateuch is immoral, 
that the historical records of the Old Testament are 
unreliable and that the whole Bible is man's creation 
rather than God's revelation. And so the attack on 
the Bible is being perpetuated. 

Now suppose there was a man who had lived upon 
this earth for eighteen hundred years, that this man 
had oftentimes been thrown into the sea and yet 
could not be drowned ; that he had frequently been 
cast before wild beasts who were unable to devour 
him; that he had many times been made to drink 
deadly poisons which never did him any harm ; that 
he had often been bound in iron chains and locked 
in prison dungeons, yet he had always been able to 
throw off the chains and escape from his captivity; 
that he had repeatedly been hanged, till his enemies 
thought him dead, yet when his body was cut down 
he sprang to his feet and walked away as though 
nothing had happened; that hundreds of times he 
had been burned at the stake, till there seemed to be 
nothing left of him, yet as soon as the fires were out 
he leaped up from the ashes as well and as vigorous 
as ever — but we need not expand this idea any fur- 
ther; such a man would be super-human, a miracle 
of miracles. Yet this is exactly how we should re- 
gard the Bible ! This is practically the way in which 
the Bible has been treated. It has been burned, 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OP THE BIBLE 117 

drowned, chained, put in prison, and torn to pieces, 
yet never destroyed I 

No other book has provoked such fierce opposition 
as the Bible, and its preservation is perhaps the most 
startling miracle connected with it. But two thou- 
sand five hundred years ago God declared, "The 
grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the Word of 
our God shall abide for ever/' Just as the three He- 
brews passed safely through the fiery furnace of 
Nebuchadnezzar unharmed and unscorched, so the 
Bible has emerged from the furnace of satanic ha- 
tred and assault without even the smell of fire upon 
it! Just as an earthly parent treasures and lays by 
the letters received from his child, so our Heavenly 
Father has protected and preserved the Epistles of 
love written to His children. 






CHAPTER TWELVE 

INWARD CONFIRMATION OF THE 
VERACITY OF THE SCRIPTURES 



INWARD CONFIRMATION OF THE 
VERACITY OF THE SCRIPTURES 

fl^JWHfJE are living in a day when confidence is lack- 
tf (q | ing ; when skepticism and agnosticism are 
^^^L becoming more and more prevalent; and 
when doubt and uncertainty are made the badges of 
culture and wisdom. Everywhere men are demand- 
ing proof. Hypotheses and speculations fail to sat- 
isfy : the heart cannot rest content until it is able to 
say, "I know." The demand of the human mind is 
for definite knowledge and positive assurance. And 
God has condescended to meet this need. 

One thing which distinguishes Christianity from 
all human systems is that it deals with absolute cer- 
tainties. Christians are people who know. And well 
it is that they do. The issues concerning life and 
death are so stupendous, the stake involved in the 
salvation of the soul is so immense, that we cannot 
afford to be uncertain here. None but a fool would 
attempt to cross a frozen river until he was sure that 
the ice was strong enough to bear him. Dare we 
then face the river of death with nothing but a 
vague and uncertain hope to rest upon? Personal 
assurance is the crying need of the hour. There can 
be no peace and joy until this is attained. A parent 
who is in suspense concerning the safety of his child, 
is in agony of soul. A criminal who lies in the con- 
demned cell hoping for a reprieve, is in mental 
torment until his pardon arrives. And a professed 
Christian who knows not whether he shall ultimate- 
ly land in Heaven or Hell, is a pitiable object. 



122 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

But we say again, real Christians are people who 
know. They know that their Redeemer liveth (Job 
19:25). They know that they have passed from 
death unto life (I John 3:14). They know that all 
things work together for good (Rom. 8:28). They 
knoiv that if their earthly house of this tabernacle 
were dissolved, they have a building of God, a house 
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens (II Cor. 
5:1). They know that one day they shall see Christ 
face to face and be made like Him (I John 3:2). 
In the meantime they know whom they have be- 
lieved, and are persuaded that He is able to keep that 
which they have committed unto Him against that 
day (II Tim. 1:12). If it be asked, How do they 
know, the answer is, they have proven for them- 
selves the trustworthiness of God's Word which af- 
firms these things. 

The force of this present argument will appeal to 
none save those who have an experimental acquaint- 
ance with it. In addition to all the external proofs 
that we have for the Divine Inspiration of the Scrip- 
tures, the believer has a source of evidence to which 
no unbeliever has access. In his own experience the 
Christian finds a personal confirmation of the teach- 
ings of God's Word. To the man whose life which, 
judged by the standards of the world, appears mor- 
ally upright, the statement that "the heart is deceit- 
ful above all things and desperately wicked" seems 
to be the gloomy view of a pessimist, or a description 
which has no general application. But the believer- 
has found that "the entrance of Thy words giveth 
light" (Ps. 119:30), and in the light of God's Word 
and beneath the illuminating power of God's Spirit 
who indwells him, he has discovered there is within 
him a sink of iniquity. To natural wisdom, which 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 123 

is fond of philosophising about the freedom of the 
human will, the declaration of Christ that "No man 
can come to Me. except the Father which hath sent 
Me, draw him" (John 6:44) seems a hard saying; 
but. to the one who has been taught by the Holy 
Spirit something of the binding power of sin, such 
a declaration has been verified in his own experience. 
To the one who has done his best to live up to the 
light which he had, and has sought to develop an 
honest and amiable character, such a statement as, 
"All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags/ 7 seems 
unduly harsh and severe; but to the man who has 
received "an unction from the Holy One," his very 
best works appear to him sordid and sinful ; and such 
they are. The Apostle's confession that "in me (that 
is, in my flesh.) dwelleth no good thing" (Rom. 7: 
18) w T hich once appeared absurd to him, the believer 
now acknowledges to be his own condition. The de- 
scription of the Christian which is found in Romans 
7 is something which none but a regenerate person 
can understand. The things there mentioned as be- 
longing to the same man at the same time, seem 
foolish to the wise of this w r orld; but the believer 
realizes completely the truth of it in his own life. 

The promises of God can be tested: their trust- 
worthiness is capable of verification. In the Gospel 
Christ promises to give rest to all those who are weary 
and heavy laden that come unto Him. He declares 
that He came to seek and to save that which w T as lost. 
He affirms that "w T hosoever drinketh of the Water 
that I shall give him shall never thirst." In short, 
the Gospel presents the Lord Jesus Christ as a Sa- 
viour. His claim to save can be put to the proof. 
Yea, it has been, and that by a multitude of individ- 
uals that no man can number. Many of these are 



124 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

living on earth to-day. Every individual who has 
read in the Scriptures the invitations that are ad- 
dressed to sinners, and has personally appropriated 
them to himself, can say in the words of the well- 
known hymn : — 

"I came to Jesus as I was, 

Weary and worn and sad; 
I found in Him a resting place 

And He has made me glad." 

Should these pages be read by a skeptic who, de- 
spite his present unbelief, has a sincere and earnest 
desire to know the truth, he, too may put God's 
Word to the test and share the experience described 
above. It is written, "Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ and thou shalt be saved/' — believe, my read- 
er, and thou, too, shalt be saved. 

"We speak that we do know, and testify that we 
have seen" (John 3:11). The Bible testifies to the 
fact that "all have sinned and come short of the 
glory of God," and our own hearts bear witness to 
the same fact. The Bible affirms that sin merits the 
wrath of God, and our own conscience confirms it. 
The Bible declares that it is "not by works of right- 
eousness which we have done, but according to His 
mercy" God saves us; and the Christian has proven 
that he was unable to do anything to win God's 
esteem : but, having cried the prayer of the Publican, 
he has gone down to his house justified. The Bible 
teaches that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new 
creature: old things are passed away; behold, all 
things are become new;" and the believer has found 
that the things he once hated he now loves, and 
that the things he hitherto counted gain he now re- 
gards as dross. The Bible witnesses to the fact that we 
"are kept by the power of God thro' faith," and the 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 125 

believer has proved that though the world, the flesh, 
and the devil are arrayed against him, yet the grace 
of God is sufficient for all his need. Ask the Chris- 
tian, then, why he believes that the Bible is the Word 
of God, and he will tell you, Because it has done for 
me what it professes to do (save) ; because I have 
tested its promises for myself; because I find its 
teachings verified in my own experiences. 

To the unregenerate the Bible is practically a 
sealed Book. Even the cultured and educated are 
unable to understand its teachings : parts of it appear 
plain and simple, but much of it is dark and mys- 
terious. This is exactly what the Bible declares — 
"The natural man receiveth not the things of the 
Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: 
neither can he know them, because they are spirit- 
ually discerned' J (I Cor. 2:14). But to the man of 
God it is otherwise: "He that believeth on the Son 
of God hath the witness in himself (IJohn 5:10). 
As the Lord Jesus declared, "If any man will do His 
will, he shall know of the doctrine" (John 7:17). 
While the infidel stumbles in darkness, even in the 
midst of light, the believer discovers the evidence of 
its truth in himself with the clearness of a sunbeam. 
"For God, who commanded the light to shine out 
of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the 
light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the 
face of Jesus Christ" (II Cor. 4:6). 



CHAPTER THIRTEEN 
VERBAL INSPIRATION 




VERBAL INSPIRATION 

L 0T only does the Bible claim to be a Divine 
revelation but it also asserts that its original 
manuscripts were written "not in the words 
which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy 
Spirit teacheth" (I Cor. 2:13). The Bible nowhere 
claims to have been written by inspired men — as a 
matter of fact some of them were very defective char- 
acters — Balaam for example — but it insists that the 
words they uttered and recorded were God's words. 
Inspiration has not to do with the minds of the 
writers (for many of them understood not what they 
wrote [I Peter 1:10,11]), but with the writings 
themselves. "All Scripture is given by inspiration of 
God/' and "Scripture" means "the writings." Faith 
has to do with God's Word and not with the men 
who wrote it — these are all dead long since, but their 
writings remain. 

A writing that is inspired by God self -evidently 
implies, in the very expression, that the words are 
the words of God. To say that the inspiration of the 
Scriptures applies to their concepts and not to their 
words; to declare that one part of Scripture is writ- 
ten with one kind or degree of inspiration and an- 
other part with another kind or degree, is not only 
destitute of any foundation or support in the Scrip- 
tures themselves, but is repudiated by every state- 
ment in the Bible which bears upon the subject now 
under consideration. To say that the Bible is not 
the Word of God but merely contains the Word of 
God is the figment of an ill-employed ingenuity and 



130 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

an unholy attempt to depreciate and invalidate the 
supreme authority of the Oracles of God. All the 
attempts which have been made to explain the ra- 
tionale of inspiration have done nothing toward sim- 
plifying the subject, rather have they tended to 
mystify. It is no easier to conceive how ideas with- 
out words could be imparted, than that Divinely re- 
vealed truths should be communicated by words. 
Instead of being diminished the difficulty is in- 
creased. It were as logical to talk of a sum without 
figures or a tune without notes, as of a Divine revela- 
tion and communication without words. Instead of 
speculation our duty is to receive and believe what 
the Scriptures say of themselves. 

What the Bible teaches about its own inspiration 
is a matter purely of Divine testimony, and our busi- 
ness is simply to receive the testimony and not to 
speculate about or seek to pry into its modus oper- 
andi. Inspiration is as much a matter of Divine 
revelation as is justification by faith. Both stand 
equally on the authority of the Scriptures themselves, 
which must be the final court of appeal on this sub- 
ject, as on every question of revealed truth. 

The teaching of the Bible concerning the inspira- 
tion of the Scriptures is clear and simple, and uni- 
form throughout. Its writers were conscious that 
their utterances were a message from God in the 
highest meaning of the word. "And the Lord said 
unto him (Moses), Who hath made man's mouth? 
or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or 
the blind? Have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, 
and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what 
thou shalt say" (Exod. 4:11, 12). "The Spirit of the 
Lord spake by me, and His word was in my tongue" 
(II Sam. 23:2). "Then the Lord put forth His 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 131 

hand, and touched my mouth. And the Lord said 
unto me, Behold, I have put My words in thy 
mouth" (Jer. 1:9). The above are only a sample of 
scores of similar passages which might be cited. 

What is predicated of the Scriptures themselves, 
demonstrates that they are entirely and absolutely 
the Word of God. "The law of the Lord is perfect, 
converting the soul" (Ps. 19:7) — this altogether ex- 
cludes any place in the Bible for human infirmities 
and imperfections. "Thy Word is very pure" (Ps. 
119:140), which cannot mean less than that the 
Holy Spirit so superintended the composition of the 
Bible and so "moved" its writers that all error has 
been excluded. "Thy Word is true from the begin- 
ning" (Ps. 119:160) — how this anticipated the as- 
saults of the higher critics on the Book of Genesis, 
particularly on its opening chapters! 

The teaching of the New Testament agrees with 
what we have quoted from the Old. "Take ye no 
thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what 
ye shall say : for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in 
the same hour what ye ought to say" (Luke 12:11, 
12), — the disciples were the ones who spake, but it 
was the Holy Spirit who "taught them what to say." 
Could any language express more emphatically the 
most entire inspiration? and, if the Holy Spirit so 
controlled their utterances when in the presence of 
"magistrates/' is it conceivable that He would do less 
for them when they were communicating the mind 
of God to all future generations on things touching 
our eternal destiny? Assuredly not. "But those 
things, which God before had showed by the mouth 
of all His prophets, that Christ should suffer, He 
hath so fulfilled" (Acts 3:18). Here the Holy Spirit 
declares thro' Peter that it was God who had revealed 



132 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

by the mouth of all His prophets that Israel's Mes- 
siah must suffer before the glory should appear. "But 
that I confess unto thee, that after the way which 
they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, 
believing all things which are written in the law and 
in the prophets" (Acts 24:14). These words clearly 
evidence the fact that the Apostle Paul had the ut- 
most confidence in the authenticity of the entire 
contents of the Old Testament. a And my speech and 
my preaching was not with enticing words of man's 
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of 
power" (I Cor. 2:4). Could any man have used 
such language as this unless he had been fully con- 
scious that he was speaking the very words of God? 
"The prophecy came not at any time by the will of 
man : but holy men of God spake as they were moved 
by the Holy Spirit" (II Peter 1:21). Nothing could 
possibly be more explicit. 

Dr. Gray has strikingly and forcefully stated the 
necessity of a verbally inspired Bible in the following 
language: — -"An illustration the writer has often 
used will help to make this clear. A stenographer in 
a mercantile house was asked by his employer to 
write as follows : 

'Gentlemen : we misunderstood your letter and will 
now fill your order.' 

Imagine the employer's surprise, however, when a 
little later this was set before him for his signature — 

'Gentlemen: we misunderstood your letter and 
will not fill your order.' 

The mistake was only of a single letter, but it was 
entirely subversive of his meaning. And yet the 
thought was given clearly to the stenographer, and 
the words, too, for that matter. Moreover, the latter 
was capable and faithful, but he was human, and it 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 133 

is human to err. Had not his employer controlled 
his expression, down to the very letter, the thought 
intended to be conveyed would have failed of utter- 
ance." So, too, the Holy Spirit had to superintend 
the writing of the very letter of Scripture in order to 
guarantee its accuracy and inerrancy. 

Many proofs might be given to show the Scrip- 
tures are verbally inspired. One line of demonstra- 
tion appears in the literal and verbal fulfillment of 
many of the Old Testament prophecies. For exam- 
ple, God made known thro' Zechariah that the price 
which Judas should receive for his awful crime was 
"thirty pieces of silver" (Zech. 11:12). Here then 
is a clear case where God communicated to one of 
the prophets not merely an abstract concept but a 
specific communication. And the above case is only 
one of many. 

Another evidence of verbal inspiration is to be seen 
in the fact that words are used in Scripture with 
the most exact precision and discrimination. This is' 
particularly noticeable in connection with the Divine 
titles. The names Elohim and Jehovah are found 
on the pages of the Old Testament several thousand 
times, but they are never employed loosely or used 
alternately. Each of these names has a definite sig- 
nificance and scope, and were we to substitute the 
one for the other the beauty and perfection of a mul- 
titude of passages w r ould be destroyed. To illustrate : 
the word "God" occurs all thro' Genesis 1, but 
"Lord God" in Genesis 2. Were these two Divine 
titles reversed here, a flaw and blemish would be the 
consequence. "God" is the creatorial title, whereas 
"Lord" implies covenant relationship and shows 
God's dealings with His own people. Hence, in 
Genesis 1, "God" is used, and in Genesis 2. "Lord 



134 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

God" is employed, and all thro' the remainder of the 
Old Testament these two Divine titles are used dis- 
criminatively and in harmony with the meaning of 
their first mention. One or two examples must suf- 
fice. "And they went in unto Noah into the ark, 
two and two of all flesh, wherein is the breath of 
life. And they that went in, went in male and fe- 
male of all flesh, as God had commanded him" — 
"God" because it was the Creator commanding, with 
respect to His creatures, as such; but, in the re- 
mainder of the same verse, we read, "and the Lord 
shut him in" (Gen. 7:16), because God's action here 
toward Noah was based upon covenant relationship. 
When going forth to meet Goliath David said, "This 
day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand (be- 
cause David was in covenant relationship with 
Him) ; and I will smite thee, and take thine head 
from thee ; and I will give the carcasses of the host of 
the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, 
and to the wild beasts of the earth ; that all the earth 
(which was not in covenant relation with Him) may 
know that there is a God in Israel. And all this as- 
sembly (which were in covenant relationship with 
Him) shall know that the Lord saveth not with 
sword and spear" etc. (I Sam. 17:46,47). Once 
more: "And it came to pass, when the captains of 
the chariots saw Jehoshaphat, that they said, It is 
the king of Israel. Therefore they compassed about 
him to fight: but Jehoshaphat cried out, and the 
Lord helped him; and God moved them (the Syr- 
ians) to depart from him" (IlChron. 18:31). And 
thus it is all thro' the Old Testament. 

The above line of argument might be extended 
indefinitely. There are upwards of fifty Divine titles 
in the Old Testament which are used more than 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 135 

once, each of which has a definite signification, each 
of which has its meaning hinted at in its first men- 
tion, and each of which is used subsequently in 
harmony with its original purport. They are never 
used loosely or interchangeably. In every place 
where they occur there is a reason for each variation. 
Such titles as the Most High, the Almighty, the God 
of Israel, the God of Jacob, the Lord our Righteous- 
ness etc., etc., are not used haphazardly, but in every 
case in harmony with their original meaning and as 
the best suited to the context. The same is true in 
connection with the names of our Lord in the New 
Testament. In some passages He is referred to as 
Christ, in others as Jesus, Jesus Christ, Christ Jesus, 
Lord Jesus Christ. In every instance there is a rea- 
son for each variation, and in every case the Holy 
Spirit has seen to it that they are employed with uni- 
form significance. The same is true of the various 
names given to the great adversary. In some places 
he is termed Satan, in others the devil etc., etc., but 
the different terms are used with unerring precision 
throughout. A further illustration is furnished by 
the father of Joseph. In his earlier life he was al- 
ways termed Jacob, later he received the name of 
Israel, but after this, sometimes we read of Jacob 
and sometimes of Israel. Whatever is predicated of 
Jacob refers to the acts of the "old man ;" whatever is 
postulated of Israel w r ere the fruits of the "new man." 
When he doubted it was Jacob who doubted, when 
he believed God it was Israel who exercised faith. 
Accordingly, we read, "And when Jacob had made 
an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his 
feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost 7 ' (Gen. 
49:33). But in the next verse but one we are told, 
"And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians 



136 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed 
Israel" (Gen. 50:2) !! Here then we see the mar- 
velous verbal precision and perfection of Holy Scrip- 
ture, 

The most convincing of all the proofs and argu- 
ments for the verbal inspiration of the Scriptures is 
the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ regarded them 
and treated them as such. He Himself submitted 
to their authority. When assaulted by Satan, three 
times He replied, "It is written/' and it is partic- 
ularly to be noted that the point of each of His 
quotations and the force of each reply lay in a sin- 
gle word — "Man shall not live by bread alone" etc. ; 
"Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God;" "Thou 
shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt 
thou serve." When tempted by the Pharisees, who 
asked Him, "Is it lawful for a man to put away his 
wife for every cause?" He answered, "Have ye not 
read?" etc. (Matt. 19:4,5). To the Sadducees He 
said, "Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures" (Matt. 
22:29). On another occasion He accused the Phari- 
sees of "Making the Word of God of none effect thro' 
their tradition" (Mark 7:13). On another occasion, 
when speaking of the Word of God, He declared 
"The Scripture cannot be broken" (John 10:35). 
Sufficient has been adduced to show that the Lord 
Jesus regarded the Scriptures as the Word of God 
in the most absolute sense. In view of this fact let 
Christians beware of detracting in the smallest degree 
from the perfect and full inspiration of the Holy 
Scriptures. 



CHAPTER FOURTEEN 
APPLICATION OF THE ARGUMENT 




APPLICATION OF THE ARGUMENT 

JHAT is our attitude towards God's Word? 
The knowledge that the Scriptures are in- 
spired by the Holy Spirit involves definite 
obligations. Our conception of the authority of the 
Bible determines our attitude and measures our re- 
sponsibility. If the Bible is a Divine revelation what 
follows? 

I. We Need to Seek God's Forgiveness. 

If it were announced upon reliable authority that 
on a certain date in the near future an angel from 
heaven would visit New York and would deliver a 
sermon upon the invisible world, the future destiny 
of man, or the secret of deliverance from the power 
of sin, what an audience he would command ! There 
is no building in that city large enough to accommo- 
date the crowd which would throng to hear him. If 
upon the next day, the newspapers were to give a 
verbatim report of his discourse, how eagerly it 
would be read ! And yet, we have between the covers 
of the Bible not merely an angelic communication 
but a Divine revelation. How great then is our 
wickedness if we undervalue and despise it! And 
yet we do. 

We need to confess to God our sin of neglecting 
His Holy Word. We have time enough — we take 
time — to read the writings of fellow-sinners, yet we 
have little or no time for the Holy Scriptures. The 
Bible is a series of Divine love letters, and yet many 



140 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

of God's people have scarcely broken the seals. God 
complained of old, "I have written to him the great 
things of My law, but they were counted as a strange 
thing" (Hos. 8:12). To neglect God's gift is to 
despise the Giver. To neglect God's Word is virtual- 
ly to tell Him that He made a mistake in being at so 
much trouble to communicate it. To prefer the writ- 
ings of man is to insult the Almighty. To say that 
human writings are more interesting is to impugn 
the wisdom of the Most High and is a terrible indict- 
ment against our own evil hearts. To neglect God's 
Word is to sin against its Author, for He has com- 
manded us to read, study, and search it. 
If the Bible is the Word of God then— 

II. It Is the Final Court of Appeal. 

It is not a question of what I think, or of what 
any one else thinks — it is, What saith the Scriptures? 
It is not a matter of what any church or creed teach- 
es — it is, What teaches the Bible? God has spoken, 
and that ends the matter: "Forever, Lord, Thy 
Word is settled in heaven." Therefore, it is for me 
to bow to His authority, to submit to His Word, to 
cease all quibbling and cry, "Speak, Lord, for Thy 
servant heareth." Because the Bible is God's Word, 
it is the final court of appeal in all things pertaining 
to doctrine, duty, and deportment. 

This was the position taken by our Lord Himself. 
When tempted by Satan, He declined to argue with 
him, He refused to overwhelm him with the force of 
His superior wisdom, He scorned to crush him with 
a putting forth of His almighty power — "It is writ- 
ten" was His defense for each assault. At the be- 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 141 

ginning of His public ministry, when He went to 
Nazareth where most of His thirty years had been 
lived, He performed no wonderful miracle but en- 
tered the synagogue, read from the Prophet Isaiah 
and said, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your 
ears" (Luke 4:21). In His teaching upon the Rich 
Man and Lazarus, He insisted that "If they hear not 
Moses and the prophets, neither will they be per- 
suaded, though one rose from the dead" (Luke 16: 
31) — thus signifying that the authority of the writ- 
ten Word is of greater weight and worth than the 
testimony and appeal of miracles. When vindicating 
before the Jews His claim of Deity (John 5) He 
appealed to the testimony of John the Baptist (vs. 
32), to His own works (vs. 36), to the Father's own 
witness — at His baptism (vs. 37), and then — as tho 
they were the climax — He said — "Search the Scrip- 
tures * * they are they which testify of Me" (vs. 39). 

This was the position taken by the Apostles. When 
Peter would justify the speaking with other tongues, 
he appealed to the Prophet Joel (Acts 2:16). When 
seeking to prove to the Jews that Jesus of Nazareth 
was their Messiah, and that He had risen again from 
the dead, he appealed to the testimony of the Old 
Testament (Acts 2). When Stephen made his defense 
before the "counsel" he did little more than review 
the teaching of Moses and the prophets. When Saul 
and Barnabas set out on their first missionary jour- 
ney they "preached the Word of God in the syna- 
gogues of the Jews" (Acts 13:5). In his Epistles, the 
Apostle continually pauses to ask — "What saith the 
Scripture?" (Rom. 4:3, etc.) — if the Scripture gave 
a clear utterance upon the subject under discussion 



142 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

that ended the matter: against their testimony there 
was no appeal. 

If the Bible is the Word of God— then 

III. It Is the Ultimate Standard for Regulat- 
ing Conduct. 

How can man be just with God? or how can he 
be clean that is born of a woman? What must I do to 
be saved? Where is true and lasting peace and rest 
to be found? Such are some of the inquiries made 
by every honest and anxious soul. The reply is — 
Search the Scriptures: Look and see. How shall I 
best employ my time and talents? How shall I dis- 
cover what is well-pleasing to my Maker? How am I 
to know what is the path of duty? And again the 
answer is — What teaches the Word of God? 

No one who possesses a copy of the Bible can legiti- 
mately plead ignorance of God's will. The Scriptures 
leave us without excuse. A lamp has been provided 
for our feet and the pathway of righteousness is 
clearly marked out. A chart has been given to the 
sailors on time's- sea, and it is their own fault if they 
fail to arrive at the heavenly port. In the day of 
judgment the Books will be opened and out of these 
Books men will be judged, and one of these Books 
will be the Bible. In His written Word God has re- 
vealed His mind, expressed His will, communicated 
His requirements; and woe to the man or woman 
who takes not the necessary time to discover what 
these are. 

If the Bible is the Word of God then — 

IV. It Is a Sure Foundation for Our Faith. 

Man craves for certainty. Speculations and hy- 
potheses are insufficient where eternal issues are at 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 143 

stake. When I come to lay my head upon my dying 
pillow, I want something surer than a "perhaps" to 
rest it upon. And thank God I have it. Where? In 
the Holy Scriptures. I know that my Redeemer 
liveth. I know that I have passed from death unto 
life. I know that I shall be made like Christ and 
dwell with Him in glory throughout the endless ages 
of eternity. How do I know? Because God's Word 
says so, and I want nothing more. 

The Bible gives forth no uncertain sound. It 
speaks with absolute assurance, dogmatism, and final- 
ity. Its promises are certain for they are the prom- 
ises of Him who cannot lie. Its testimony is reliable 
for it is the inerrant Word of the Living God. Its 
teachings are trustworthy for they are a communica- 
tion from the Omniscient. The believer then has a 
sure foundation on which to rest, an impregnable 
rock on which to build his hopes. For his present 
peace and for his future prospects he has a, "Thus 
saith the Lord/' and that is sufficient. 

If the Bible is the Word of God then— 

V. It Has Unique Claims upon Us. 

A unique book deserves and demands unique at- 
tention. Like Job, we ought to be able to say, "I 
have esteemed the words of His mouth more than 
my necessary food/' If history teaches us anything 
at all, it teaches that those nations which have most 
honored God's Word have been most honored by 
God. And what is true of the nation is equally true 
of the family and of the individual. The greatest 
intellects of the ages have drawn their inspiration 
from the Scripture of Truth. The most eminent 
statesmen have testified to the value and importance 



144 DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 

of Bible study. Benjamin Franklin said: "Young 
man, my advice to you is that you cultivate an 
acquaintance with and firm belief in the Holy Scrip- 
tures, for this is your certain interest/ 7 Thomas Jef- 
ferson gave it as his opinion, "I have said and always 
will say, that the studious perusal of the Sacred Vol- 
ume will make better citizens, better fathers, and 
better husbands." 

When the late Queen Victoria was asked the 
secret of England's greatness, she took down a copy 
of the Scriptures, and pointing to the Bible she said, 
"That Book explains the power of Great Britain." 
Daniel Webster once affirmed, "If we abide by the 
principles taught in the Bible, our country will go 
on prospering and to prosper: but, if we and our 
posterity neglect its instructions and authority, no 
man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may over- 
whelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscur- 
ity. The Bible is the Book of all others for lawyers 
as well as divines, and I pity the man who cannot 
find in it a rich supply of thought and rule of con- 
duct." 

When Sir Walter Scott lay dying he summoned to 
his side his man in waiting and said, "Read to me 
out of the Book." "Which book?" answered his serv- 
ant. "There is only one Book," was the dying 
man's response— "The Bible!" The Bible is the 
Book to live by and the Book to die by. Therefore 
read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, practice it to 
be holy. As another has said : "Know it in the head, 
store it in the heart, show it in the life, sow it in the 
world." 



DIVINE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE 145 

"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and 
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, 
for instruction in righteousness : that the man of God 
may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good 
works" (II Tim. 3:16, 17). 



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